This is a Temporary Title.

Hello all. It’s been a good first few days at school. It’s so nice talking to people I haven’t talked to in a while. I don’t know why that feeling is so nice, but it is.

Sometimes, when I walk around campus, I walk with people. Other times, I walk alone. When I walk alone, I like to just listen in on random people’s conversations. I think you can learn a lot about people by simply listening to them. And after listening to enough people, you reach a large enough sample size to place theories on the human race.

Recently I’ve been becoming more and more aware of what seems to be this human need to disassociate. Let me show you some examples. Most of these are theoretical.

During an Ultimate Frisbee game on the field, this Frisbee was launched across the field, and a player sprinted down after it. He slowed down, the frisbee went by, he made a lunge, he managed to touch the frisbee, the frisbee slipped out of his hands, and he fell onto the ground in a way that wasn’t too admirable. “I thought it was gonna settle,” he said. What did he just do? He didn’t want others to think of him as a horrible Ultimate Frisbee player, so he justified his physical mistake by saying that he misplanned it. He wanted others to know (or at least believe) that he was physically able but simply mentally unprepared. Thus he associated himself with the group of occasionally mentally unprepared people, which isn’t that bad of a group to be associated with, because it is a fairly large group. At the same time, he disassociated himself from the looked-down-upon horrible Ultimate Frisbee players.

The guys are playing basketball, and this guy missed his fourth shot in a row, so he goes, “Aw crap this arm is killing me. You know last week I messed it up so bad longboarding.” He is assigning his physical incapability to an injury. Thus he is dissociating himself from people who suck for no reason. At the same time, he is associating himself with longboarding people, who are very cool people.

These are everywhere. And they’re so contagious. I’m on a roll with these examples. I’ll keep going.

In one conversation, people are talking about how hard this test was, and a girl would say, “Dude Billy Jean Chen finished the test like when I was on page two.” She just tried to dissociate herself from people who finish tests quickly.

In another conversation, people are talking about how easy this test was, and a guy would say, “Man last night I didn’t even study at all. I was up playing DOTA.” This person is trying to dissociate himself from people who study a lot.

In another conversation, somebody would say, “That’s what she said!” And everybody would laugh. But one of these laughers actually doesn’t understand why it’s funny, yet he laughs anyway. He is trying dissociate himself from people who suck at getting “that’s what she said” jokes. Also similar to this scenario is the very hip word or expression that flies over this dude’s head, but he laughs, and later that day he looks it up on Urbandictionary.com.

In another conversation, somebody decently smart would be watching Jeopardy with a really dumb girl. And the guy on Jeopardy answers this question correctly, and the really dumb girl goes, “What the heck? Does he have like no friends? How do you know stuff like that?” And the decently smart guy next to her would go, “Yeah I feel so dumb watching this show.” But in reality, this decently smart guy also knew the answer. He is simply dissociating himself from geniuses who have no friends.

There seems to always be this mentality to dissociate from the out-group and to associate with the in-group. And it kills. It produces pride. It produces ignorance. It produces masks.

Here’s a classic question. What would Jesus do? The exact opposite. Jesus, more than anybody else, purposely associated with the out-group. One of the reasons why the Pharisees were turned off by him was because he always hung out with the tax collectors and sinners. He chose to be associated with those others tried to dissociate themselves from. That’s counter-cultural. That’s radical. That’s revolutionary.

That’s not even all. Once upon a time, the Trinity was the in-group, and the human race was the out-group. And so God became flesh and dwelt among us. God came into the out-group and died for the out-group so that we can be in the in-group. There’s something to ponder about.

- Larry

Today I was sitting in the car, and I was thinking about life and people and God and all. And for some reason this quote was brought to the surface of my mind. “God doesn’t just love you. He actually likes you.” I don’t quite remember where I heard or where I read this, but I recall how I used to love swishing that concept back and forth in my mind. Something about this concept of “like” was very appealing to me in high school. But today I realized how contradictory it was to my previous post about like and love.

I previously defined “like” as the valuing of a person because of a person’s qualities and “love” as the valuing of a person regardless of a person’s qualities. If these definitions stand, then biblically, God doesn’t like us. But oh how he loves us. And when I came home today, while I was reading the Psalms, it hit home even more. This is how God loves us.

Psalm 103:8-13
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.”

He is merciful, gracious, loving, forgiving. He removes our transgressions from us. He is like a father showing compassion to his children. Why? Ready for this? This is the contrast.

Psalm 103:14-16
“For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”

Why does a father love a child? Because the child ate his vegetables? Because the child did his math homework? No. The father loves the child because the father is a loving father. Why does God love us? Because we pray and read the Bible? Because we get good grades? Because we stay pure before marriage? No. We are dust. We are like grass. We are temporary. We are insignificant. God loves us because God is love.

God does not value us because of our qualities, for we have no admirable qualities. God values us because of his own qualities. He values us because he himself is loving, gracious, merciful, forgiving.

That blows my mind.

- Larry

When one eats Olive Garden breadsticks, something amazing happens. Why? Because Olive Garden breadsticks are absolutely delicious. One won’t even bother to order a course meal. The desire for the breadsticks outweighs the desire for the course meal, because one is realizing the supremacy of the Olive Garden breadsticks.

When one tastes God, something amazing happens. Why? Because God is absolutely incredible. The desire for God outweighs the desire for anything else, because one is realizing the supremacy of God. Often people wonder how they can be more on fire for God, more vulnerable, more on the edge. I get excited when I have conversations with these people, because it shows that though they might not have a desire for God, they have a desire to have a desire for God. That’s the first step. God has given us that desire. I believe that the second step is to simply act out on that desire, and that is done by simply tasting God. Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” Because, when one has tasted God, one sees the good in it. And just as it is natural to desire more Olive Garden breadsticks, it is only natural then to develop a desire for God. It is only natural to be on fire for God.

People often say that college is the best four years of your life, so don’t waste them. Get laid, get drunk, and get high. And that is true. There rarely is a better opportunity in anyone’s life to get laid, to get drunk, and to get high, than in a liberal college. If you taste all of these activities, you will find them good, and you will naturally have desires for them. However, we will be missing out, because humans are wired to find ultimate joy in God. Taste God and you will find him not only good but superior, and you will naturally have desires for him. Then you will see college from a different perspective. So because you don’t want to waste the college years, you will choose not to get laid, not to get drunk, not to get high. Colleges are amazing mission fields, and they are amazing places to be challenged and to grow in the faith with a strong body of believers. So seizing one’s time in college can mean plugging into the Christian community and living on fire. There rarely is a better opportunity in anyone’s life to witness, to grow, and to fall in love with God.

John Stott once said, “The true knowledge of God will always lead us to worship.” So read the Word, pray, fellowship, and get ready to taste and see.

- Larry

PS I am so excited to go back to school. Like seriously. It’s so ridiculous.

I was reading Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin, and there’s a bunch of noteworthy one-liners in there. Also some pretty good multiple-liners as well. One particular section made me think a lot.

“Gary had been right. I’d felt hopeless, but not hopeless enough. I knew Jesus died on the cross to save sinners from God’s wrath, enduring in our place the punishment we deserved. I understand that I couldn’t save myself. I just didn’t think of myself as a very great sinner. Which meant I didn’t need a very great Savior” (25).

And I immediately thought to that one day during my freshman year when I was introduced to this very similar concept. Non-Christians don’t recognize Jesus as Savior partially because they do not see any need for a Savior. Man is not that bad. God is not that good. Therefore the cross, which brings us together, isn’t a big deal. But. When somebody becomes a Christian, two things happen. The person starts to see more and more clearly the depth of his own sin, and the person starts to see more and more clearly the depth of God’s holiness. And the more the person sees these two positions drifting further apart, the more the person will appreciate the cross of reconciliation.

I love this illustration. The more a person grasps the power of the cross, the more the person applies the gospel to everyday living, and the more the person counts everything else as loss in comparison. The Christian therefore is not on a stagnant stroll, but he is becoming more and more passionate every day.

How can I not march onwards? How can I not overflow with His love? And how can I not leave a John Piper quote? “The longer I live the less optimistic I am that I will end without sin and the more grateful I become for the blood of Christ imputed to me. As I grow older I do not feel myself becoming gloriously holy but I find myself feeling great love for the gospel.”

- Larry

Hello all. I got back from China last week. It was such an awesome trip, and it made me think a lot about who I am, where I’m going, and what I’m doing. Much of this information is too personal to be up here, so I wrote an e-mail out to some folks. If you want this e-mail, I would say that your desire would reflect the depth of our relationship, so just give me an e-mail saying so and I’ll forward my e-mail to you, too.

Anyway I had an e-mail exchange the other day that brought up a very interesting topic. It was so interesting, in fact, that I thought I would talk about it here. The issue! Christians aren’t supposed to conform to the patterns of this world. That’s one team. Then Paul says that he seeks to become all things to all people. Well well, Sir Paul of Tarsus, isn’t that conforming? Let’s do some good old Bible-opening.

These are the two apparently contrasting passages.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2

“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”
1 Corinthians 9:22

So obviously we aren’t supposed to conform. And obviously we are supposed to conform, because Paul talks positively about it. Therefore, it makes the most sense that sometimes it is good to conform, and sometimes it is bad. Then where is the line? Let’s look at the Romans 12 context.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:1-2

Paul says to present ourselves as living sacrifices. So the reason why we don’t conform is to be holy and acceptable living sacrifices. Or another way to put it, the reason why we don’t conform is to properly worship. When we conform, we love other things more than God. We conform for the sake of the world. Now let’s look at the 1 Corinthians 9 context. Paul is talking about his efforts to preach the gospel.

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”
1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Paul strives to conform in so many ways, and his reason is v23. He does it all “for the sake of the gospel.”  So the reason why we would conform would be to promote the gospel.

The first type of conforming is for the sake of the world, and the second type of conforming is for the sake of the gospel. Therefore, it’s not about how one conforms or to what extent one conforms but about the motives behind the conforming. It’s about the heart.

Take starting a rock band. What is the motive behind it? Is it the same motive as those in people around you? To get sex, drugs, and alcohol? To get fame and honor? That’s conforming for the world’s sake. Or is it to penetrate the rock culture with the gospel? Is it becoming the rocker to the rocker, so that you may save some? That’s conforming for the gospel’s sake. That’s proper spiritual worship.

So it all comes down to what your heart wants. If your heart wants to worship God, you will naturally conform in order to promote God. If your heart wants to worship the things of this world, you will naturally conform in order to promote the things of this world. Conforming is almost inevitable (However, in the circumstance of an apathetic person lacking worship for both God and the things of this world, perhaps there will be little or no conforming) and therefore not the issue. The issue is the heart. And ultimately, worshiping God is the right motive of the heart, because it has the greatest reward. “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” There are blessings involved, meaning there is joy in this path that cannot be found in any other path. Thus this is the path worth taking.

- Larry