who told you?

“Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Genesis 3:11

[7 minutes]

There is a crisis of information today. No, not the lack of it, because, as we all well know, there are no limits to where we can find whatever we’re looking for whenever we need it. Alexa, how long does it take to boil an egg in the microwave? Hey Siri, what was the primary reason for the downfall of the Roman Empire?

Our appetite for knowledge is appeased through Google, ChatGPT, X, Apple News, Wikipedia, YouTube, Waze, Food Network, Zillow, and a thousand other sources as close to us as our devices. We are glutted with real-time data from every direction.

Suffering from the tyranny of FOMO, we bathe ourselves in digital light, robotically taking in whatever it feeds us — good or bad — for hours on end. Like junkies, our habit is fixed by mainlining content that is killing our souls. The Matrix is changing us from being made in God’s image to beings who slither around on our bellies like snakes.

In the beginning, God was the only source of information. So when the Lord asked Adam, “Who told you?” the latter had to sheepishly admit to going off-script and getting hoodwinked by misinformation.

It all falls apart in Genesis 3. The First Man on planet earth had barely gotten his feet under him before he believed the lie and, tragically, became the lie itself.

who told you God can’t be trusted?

The sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ.
—Martin Luther

Thanks to the Original Couple, we have embedded inside us the default mechanism to accuse God of being spartanly unfair or cruel. It’s a constant battle for many to quell the urge to instinctively blame God for their misfortunes.

I find it telling that the first book in our Bibles — chronologically, that is — is not Genesis, but Job. Of course Adam and Eve walked the earth long before he did, but Job preceded the writer of Genesis by a long shot. If we can trust the dating of Job, and I believe we can, then it asks the oldest question of all: If God is so good then why do I hurt so badly?

Now you can see why Moses opened the canon with Genesis and the rest of the Pentateuch. Each of those first five books provides a master class for people who have a background of suffering and struggling to “not go there” when they are tempted to believe the lie that God cannot be trusted:

This is God. This is who he is. This is how he is to be worshiped. This is how he is to be trusted. Yes, bad things happen. We know this all too well! But God is not the villain in our story; he is fighting for us and faithfully planning our blessed future.”

Job fought that same urge and won. Moses had to do battle against the devil’s lie in Midian no doubt, but he overcame and led the people of Israel to leave Egypt and overcome in the wilderness. Those who didn’t make it were those who never got the taste of Egypt’s fruit out of their mouths.

One of my daily follows on X (Twitter) posted this recently and I thought it captured quite well the common struggle of mankind:

What good is the apple when one bite makes your life a living hell?

who told you God made you inferior?

In the first page of Holy writ we are told that humans are made in God’s image, in His likeness. By page two, Adam and Eve are no longer satisfied with that and looking for an upgrade.

The present culture has bullied impressionable minds to think they are not enough. Social media influencers, cultural icons, and even medical professionals have convinced an entire generation they are born wrong, look wrong, or believe wrong.

None of it is new. The satan has been using the same tactics to mar the imago dei in us since the beginning. He laughs at our gullibility. He loves to see us stripped of glory and dressed in fig leaves.

Babies are blobs of cells.

Children are an inconvenience.

Old people are a nuisance.

All men are misogynists.

Women are sex objects.

Gender is fluid.

Fathers aren’t necessary.

Families are a capitalistic construct.

We love our labels. Many of our labels serve no other purpose but to depersonalize others and erase the imago dei from their beingness. And the devil laughs.

who told you God was finished with you?

Did you think your shame defined you?

Did you think it was over for you?

Did you think you were beyond saving?

Adam and Eve were painfully aware they were now defective. The shine wore off. The original pair were like those brand new cars you drive off the lot that depreciate immediately.

This is why humans “cover” themselves with things that hide their weaknesses.

We become defensive.

We have learned how to hide our wounds to avoid the proper remedy.

We become deceptive.

We have learned to lie and, by so doing, have become the lie itself.

We become destructive.

We will burn down the whole house before admitting we are wrong and coming home.

From that point, once the die is cast, Adam and Eve no longer see the supernatural. They can’t see God, they can only hear him coming. Their souls weren’t the only thing that went dark; their eyes went dark too.

But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10

But God, in grace, made sure they knew his approach. We are told the very first words after the Fall were spoken by God:

“Where are you?”

He came seeking us. There’s grace in those words! Where are you? They imply they were somewhere they should not be but they still mattered enough for God to come looking for them. It’s the same for every human since.

You’ve messed up but you’re not irredeemable.

Your situation is not the end of the story.

We can’t hide too long without having to come out and face the music. It will catch up with us. We will eventually be outed. Better to come forward than die in the dark.

In Christ, we are not pursued like wanted criminals, but like wanted children, or like wanted lovers, because wrath is replaced by desire.
— Rachel Gilson

Don’t allow the voices and narratives of culture shape who you are. It’s fake news. Some of it has just enough truth to make it sound authentic, but it’s still a lie.

Beloved, God is not done with you. Wherever you’re hiding, whatever you’re trying to cover yourself up with to impersonate the imago dei, just stop. You may not see him, but he sees you.

I’m willing to bet you’re hearing his approach in these words. Why are you here? Who told you these lies? Come out, come back, come home. He’s calling you back to truer things than you’ll ever hear out there.

Selah, beloved.

GUEST POST: A Lion Named Jack

You don’t know Jack.

But you will.

Jack’s one of my “young lions” (you’ve read and met several of them on this site over the months and years): guys in their 20’s who are interested in more than just the “American Dream” for their lives. They have spotted a treasure in a field⁽¹⁾ and are spending these seminal years gathering their ‘talents and minas’ so they can buy that field. No holds barred. Nothing held back. All for King and Kingdom.

These are young men who, like Jack, are violently struggling to stand against the current tides of culture, and seeking the ancient and apostolic faith that turned the world (in their era) upside down. They are just foolish enough to believe the same can happen in their time.

Recently, Jack approached me to mentor him weekly and in one of our earlier meet-ups I asked him to compose a mission statement for his life.

The very next week he came prepared, and as he read his personal manifesto, I was admittedly moved and asked if it might be reproduced here for my readers. He graciously obliged. As you read, remember that there’s an entire ‘army’ of Jacks being called out of the earth whose passion is to live out these very things for the glory of Christ.

Does it encourage you? It certainly does me.

Mission Statement

To learn,

to observe,

to trust,

to love,

to exemplify.

To obtain knowledge but let it access my heart and not just my head.

To remain teachable, humble and vulnerable to correction by both leadership and the Holy Spirit.

To use my gifts to glorify God,

edify the body,

and speak truth speak truth myself.

To love with no expectation.

To challenge the mundane.

To show compassion to the hurting.

To keep my eyes open to serve.

To honor those in authority in every area of my life.

To embrace grace and profess truth.

To speak life into dead situations.

To be joyful,

grateful,

and show people the unreserved love that God demonstrates to me daily.

To be less, and have more of God.

To be everything God sees in his son Jack Roper.

To create a life of peace with those I encounter.

To understand those who don’t believe.

To not choose when or who I want to serve, love and show grace to.

To grow more in love with the Lover of my soul,

my Father,

Creator,

and Purpose,

my best Friend.

You’ll be hearing from Jack again pretty soon. He has a harrowing personal story that is his to tell – a story of devastation, depression, and hope leading to overcoming faith and forgiveness. You’ll want to stay tuned.

Oh, and pray for Jack this weekend. He’s been asked yet again to speak at Vida Nueva of North Georgia, a gathering of teens who have already expressed their own desire to live out the very ideals Jack expressed.

Oh for a sweet, sweeping, and lasting move of God!

⁽¹⁾Matthew 13:44

Dear Church, Your Problem Isn’t With Caitlyn

1 Corinthians 5:12,13
For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside…

* * *

Acts 17:30-31
“God…has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”

Once upon a time I fancied myself on the order of ‘tell ’em like it is’ Isaiah or a hair-pulling Nehemiah or Day-of-the-Lord-Joel. There’s certainly nothing wrong with these approaches – if that’s what God has called you to do. Dare I even say, having an anointing for it.

For a large portion of my traveling ministry I bristled at the term ‘evangelist’, informing pastors straightaway my calling is to the church, not the lost and outside. I cozied up much better to ‘revival speaker’ as I believed my purpose was best utilized for lighting a fire under the church.

God certainly has His evangelists and prophets, but how quickly had I forgotten His mission for me, spelled out in a thought-conversation between us as I lay broken-back paralyzed on a hospital bed in 1981? In a flow of revelation, I heard the kindness of God speak to my wondering mind:

Scott (we’re on a first-name basis), My Church is filled with broken people and I want you to share My message of hope and grace to My hurting remnant.”

But what title goes with that? What office of the Church is this? How do pastors introduce me? Encourager? Healer?

(I dunno, how about – just spitballin’ here – “Scott”; I mean, that’s what my Father calls me…)

All that to say this: I get it. Perhaps 20 or 30 years later, but I understand. I’m an encourager. That’s how God uses me. It can sometimes cross over into exhorter, but always in a spirit of encouragement. God has His prophets, but that’s not really my gig.

So when I write posts like this, I know I’m taking a risk. I realize I’m playing with Ezekiel’s fire, so I’ll do so ever so cautiously, and, trust me, by the end you’ll see more of my encouragement resurface.

Still, I feel compelled. Not by Scott Mitchell but by the Spirit of Christ who called me to preach the Good News of liberation (God used Isaiah 61:1,2 to bring me to my teen-aged senses). Inherent in my calling to encourage the Body is my own hope to see the church set free.

So first, if you haven’t already, go back to the top and read those lead-in scriptures. I’ll wait for you back here.

(Pause)

Wait. Don’t jump on the bandwagon of “Christians shouldn’t judge” and fly this flag as its emblem. Nossir. That’s not what Paul is saying.

Of course we’re supposed to judge! Only, we must never judge in the sense of writing somebody off or sending them to their doom with ‘wiping hands clean’ hearts. Matthew 7:1 has to be balanced against Matthew 7:16 and John 7:24. Our judging must be filtered through the lens of humility and tempered by the love of Christ.

And…according to these and many other scriptures, Christians are supposed to judge.

Other Christians.

God has given the church the mandate to judge itself – albeit righteously and mercifully (see Gal 6:1-ff).

And that’s what I’m doing here. I’m posting this blog to say ‘brethren, we’re in sad shape and may God heal us of all our diseases.‘

Frankly, we’re so sick we shouldn’t have a lot of extra time snorting and harrumphing on Facebook, demeaning the sins of others; others, of course, being those outside the faith.

I’m choosing not to join the fray on these matters and others that appear to be blowing up my timelines on Twitter and Facebook. The fact I’m not joining in isn’t out of cowardice (I know where I stand, I just don’t have weapons in my hands while doing it) but because I’m waiting for the church to be just as angry about its own sin instead of focusing on those glaring offenses blitzing our social mediums.

Those matters are ‘Adam behaving like Adam’. It’s what unredeemed Adam does. (Okay, understand I’m not talking about violence and criminal activity in this post – there are necessary repercussions for these)

I could talk all day about the many offenses of the church in our time but I’m choosing to only name three. Only three. Three biggies, mind you, but just these three…for starters.

If the church could repent of just these three, I believe the world would be in a much different place. Oh, the unbelieving world that chooses to remain in its unbelief will still be well on its way to hell, but if these three things could be dealt with, my my my, what a difference there could be.

But I’m warning you, they’re big. I mean mountainous. No, mountain range-ous. I’m talking Swiss Alps here.

Here they are:

1. SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS

It seems fairly obvious to me we like to point out the big foibles of others’ lives so we don’t have to look at our own damning issues.

When I see hateful, hurtful posts spewing venom at the unredeemed by professing believers, I’m wont to ask, so how’s that lying problem of yours? Jesus said liars and hypocrites won’t inherit the Kingdom of heaven. Are you loving your wife as Christ loves His Bride, or thinking it’s just a suggestion? Have you lusted on the internet recently? Any person for whom you’re harboring unforgiveness?

Hear me: I’m not leaving myself out of the mix. I’m well aware of the thoughts I can think and the emotions as judge, jury, and executioner I can call up in a heartbeat. I’m simply making a plea for self-examination, for falling on the mercy of Jesus once we’ve each had a long, hard look at the man in the mirror. If we’ve been forgiven much, we’ll love much, Jesus said.

2. DIVISIVENESS

How silly is it that we feel we have any authority at all to morally legislate the behaviors of those outside the faith, when we can’t even get along inside the household of faith? Are you kidding me?

38 THOUSAND denominations in Christianity today? 38 maybe, but 3-8-comma-and-3-zeros? That’s 38,000 times a group has splintered off another group – often (not always, I realize) out of unyieldedness, stubbornness, selfish ambition, heavy-handedness, unfixable divides, and bearing grudges instead of bearing with one another.

I’m not even going to go into all the splinterings and splits within churches of the same denomination!

Jesus prayed that His people would be one (John 17:23,24). My spiritual father calls this “the most evangelistic prayer ever prayed” because Jesus said its answer would result in the world seeing Christ on earth, in full display, and “believe” (v21).

Maybe, just maybe, there would be less Caitlyns if only they would see more of the beautifulness (it’s possibly a word) of Jesus and His life on display among His followers.

Please, let us dream.

3. LUKEWARMNESS

This speaks to lukewarm love; yes, for Christ, certainly, but a tepid love for others, both the fallen & lost, and the wayward & scandalized. Jesus forecasted a cooling of love in the last days (Matthew 24:12), moving into cold-heartedness. I think He knew it would also be so among His so-called followers, regretfully.

Where is the love for the lost? Where is gracious compassion for the impenitent? Why the vitriol for sinners? Why the hatred and Pharisaic disgust for the unclean? Have we forgotten how once we were so far off, despising God and His reign, shaking our fist at heaven … and yet … and yet … “God [showed] His love for us while we were yet sinners…”???

We can’t blame the gays on any of these sins of the church. We can’t point a finger at Hollywood or the Democratic Party or Obama or Hillary Clinton or the Supreme Court for our slide and failures.

Merciful Jesus, in G.K. Chesterton style, I say in answer to the query of “what’s wrong with the world?” a resounding, “I am.”

I am…

Dear Church, no finger-pointing here.

I’m a self-righteous Pharisee at times. I snort at the sinner and glad-hand myself for my straight-arrow walk. Foolish am I.

I can be divisive – perhaps not openly so, but in my heart I can grumble about another who has better gifts than I minister with, and I can gossip in the name of Jesus – even if it’s *only* to my spouse, thus coloring her opinion thence onward. Ragamuffin am I.

I have a flagging love for others. I can choose to walk around a dirty street person every once in awhile so as not to be bothered whilst on my alternative mission, or sigh when I see “that person” calling or texting me again, and what can they possibly need now … or … why can’t they just get over their stuff???

Jerk am I.

I’m not immune any more than you are, but I know this: the same Jesus that loved me in spite of my hatred of Him before I mercifully saw the Light, loves me still, in spite of these confessions, and He’s not writing me off.

I’m making it my heart’s pledge to never do that to anybody, either. I’m going to believe that Caitlyn Jenner is loved by God and the broken places that no surgery can fix can be mercifully touched and transformed (not transgendered) by His love. Snarkiness never won nobody to Jesus. I’m believing Tony Campolo is my brother and I can see past our disagreements to a man (like me) still on his way to fullness and find the Jesus in him. (To hear some tell it, he’s already been ascribed to hell.) Same with the Duggars or Rob Bell. Or the pope. And the LGBT community. And ____________ (insert politician’s name here).

Is it easy? Was it “easy” for God to love me in my darkest rebellion? Remember: He still came looking for Adam when He knew what the rascal’d done. That’s my mandate. Never give up, never let go, never write off, never condemn, never stop loving. Tears, backstabs, betrayals, sleepless nights, anger, good news, bad news, relapses (give me grace, God), roller coasters, merry-go-rounds…

But hey, sounds a lot like my résumé, past and present. Thank God He didn’t – and doesn’t – hate me all over social media. I guess I’m saying, He, the Founder of the Church, treats people a lot better than the church does. We can do better. By the mercy of Christ Who fills His Church…we can do better. So let’s.