Author: Bruce Pagano II (Page 26 of 51)

Bruce Pagano is a blogger and podcaster living in the Treasure Valley area of Idaho. He is married and has four children, a retired US military veteran, a licensed clinical professional counselor, and has over 14 years of ministerial leadership experience. Most of his writing focuses on manhood, leadership, relationships, and faith issues. His writing can be found at www.brucepagano.com and his podcast at www.foldingchairtheology.com.

Why Just “Getting Saved” Won’t Help You

October 5, 2015 / Bruce Pagano II / 1 Comment

The purpose of The Whole Man is to help men find healing and wholeness in Jesus.

With that in mind, I realize that as we walk toward this purpose, there may be readers who question what this looks like. For much of my early life I searched for healing and wholeness in many places. Eventually I landed in the offices of a number of professional counselors.

Professional counseling is an important part of finding healing, but it has a threshold in what it is able to offer. It’s absolutely a vehicle to move you forward toward healing and wholeness, but apart from Jesus it can only achieve a shadow of this desire. Professional counseling is more akin to pain management than a cure. The goal is to mitigate pain, so that it is bearable to live with, but pain is never completely eliminated. This is why some people go to counseling for 20 years. As long as the ailment remains, you must continue treatment. However, when you are cured you stop treating symptoms.

This is where Jesus comes in. When we enter into relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit carries you over the threshold into healing and wholeness. Sometimes that happens immediately, but more often it is a process.

Sadly, in an effort to “win” souls to Christ, the church has reduced the entirety of following Jesus into a singular event, namely “getting saved.” We can see this played out by the way that Christians use time as a measure of “spiritual maturity.” Typically when two Christians meet for the first time, they don’t ask, “What is Jesus doing in your life, right now?” Instead, they ask a variant of “When did you get saved?”

How long we’ve identified as a Christian has become the defining measure for how well we follow Jesus. However, if we are to experience the healing and genuine wholeness that Jesus offers; we must learn what it truly means to follow Him. And following Jesus is much more than simply “getting saved.”

Following Jesus begins with belief and is followed by actions in your life that flow out of that belief.

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I’d like to demystify what it means to “be saved” by Christ. It isn’t magic. At the most basic level it is believing that Jesus is who He says He is, that He loves you, and then doing your best to shape your life as a response to His love. To clarify, shaping your life as a response to the love of Jesus is about choices, sometimes very difficult ones, but choices nonetheless. It has nothing to do with your ability to “be good enough.”

Following Jesus begins with belief and is followed by actions in your life that flow out of that belief. As difficult as some of these choices will be, making the choice to believe is possibly the most difficult. However, this is your first act of faith in the person of Jesus and the beginning of following Him.

My friend Thomas put together a great write up on what it means to confess and follow Jesus, so I’m going to cheat and use that. There are three parts to consider: Salvation, Justification and Sanctification.

Salvation

This is the event that most Christians refer to when they say they are “saved.” It is the most important of the three and it is intended to place you in relationship with God. Salvation is about accepting the truth of your fallen and broken state and believing that God forgives you through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

What must I do to be saved?

1. Understand God desires close relationship with you. (John 3:16 & James 2:23)
2. Confess your sin condition and Jesus as Lord. (Romans 10:9, 3:10, 7:11 – leads to death and 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe in the power of His Resurrection. (Romans 10:9, Ephesians 1:19, and 2 Cor. 4:14)

Justification

The most meaningful of the three and is the experience of being made into the likeness of Jesus. Justification is about being adopted as sons and daughters of God and being made worthy to approach Him. Our worthiness is achieved by Christ’s work on the cross, in which we trade our sin and brokenness for Christ’s righteousness.

What must I do to be justified?

1. Accept by faith the gift of sonship (adoption). (Galatians 3:11, 26 and Ephesians 5:1)
2. Trust in the atonement/exchange of righteousness. (Romans 5:6, 9-11, and 1 Peter 3:18)
3. Become sealed with the Spirit in faith. (Ephesians 1:13, 4:21, and Galatians 3:14)

Sanctification

The most visible and how we live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is a continuous process and enables an active life, faith and work. It has to do with the Holy Spirit empowering you to live a life that reflects the character of Jesus, the growing of your faith in who Jesus is, God’s justice and goodness and doing the good work of the ministry.

What must I do to be Sanctified?

1. Surrender to Repentance. (Romans 2:4 and Acts 2:37-41)
2. Seek to be presented, in Christ, to God. (Colossians 1:22, Ephesians 1:4, and Romans 7:4)
3. Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. (2 Thess. 2:13, Ephesians 3:14-21, and Acts 1:8)

Salvation and justification are singular events that happen simultaneously. However, sanctification takes the rest of your life and requires other Christians. Maybe it’s time to stop managing your pain and start looking to the cure for your hurts.

In the next post, I’ll talk about some of the things you can do to grow in your relationship with God.

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How to Measure Manhood

September 28, 2015 / Bruce Pagano II / 3 Comments

Being physically strong, making money, having power, and not taking guff from anyone have all been etched into the measuring stick of manhood. History has provided very specific male stereotypes, a favorite being John Wayne.

For several generations, this measure of a man remained both popular and unchallenged. Today, defining a man inside of our culture has become increasingly difficult as the definition is challenged and examined. Our cultural definition now includes that a man can be metrosexual or effeminate and still be a man. It could be said that today, manhood is simply a result of one’s maleness. However, this is not true because our culture now says a woman can be a man and vice versa.

The list for what constitutes a man continues to be more confusing. When I was growing up, I was told that what makes a man is to not hit or disrespect a woman. Of course that’s a really important aspect of manhood; but I wasn’t told how a man was supposed to treat a woman. Except I was. By Hollywood.

One of Hollywood’s greatest measures of a man was that the man always got the girl. This usually included that the man had sex with her. There are so many movies where the dad gave his son an “atta-boy” shoulder slug, or an approving nod and wink, at the news of the son’s first kiss or sexual encounter. The dad was always proud of the son. This has not changed.

The band Maroon 5 recently released a song called Sugar. The music is upbeat and fun. A song that you might dance to at, say a wedding. Until you actually listen to the lyrics and realize it isn’t a song that you should have your 7-year-old son listen to. Truthfully, I’d prefer my 16 and 18 year old sons didn’t listen to it either. Before I continue, let me clarify that I’m not that “all secular music is from the devil” guy. I love music. All kinds; except Kanya, he’s his biggest fan and doesn’t need me. For a song to make my, “Do Not Play” list it really needs to send the wrong message. Sugar does just this.

Sugar really wasn’t a song I was listening to; it was my wife who pointed out the lyrics to me. Specifically the words:

“Yeah, I want that red velvet. I want that sugar sweet. Don’t let nobody touch it, unless that somebody is me. I gotta be a man, there ain’t no other way.”

If you weren’t able to put that together, “sugar” is sex. Mr. Levine is singing that in order to be a man he needs to have sex with her because there’s “no other way.”

The ability to have sex does not signal your manhood...

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Maybe you’re thinking I’m over reacting and that it’s just a song. Maybe I am. However, that is the message of the song. Sugar’s message is no different from what so many others in entertainment portray as the measure of a man. Sex seems to be the one thing that many guys agree is the measure of a man.

Your ability to have sex with a woman doesn’t make you a man. I’ve known so many boys that have had sex and never acted like a man. I was one of them and to be clear, getting married at 19 didn’t change that. In fact, having sex will often reveal areas you are lacking in before it will reveal how much of a man you are – or are not. The ability to have sex does not signal your manhood; it simply means that your body functions as it was created to.

If we take sex out of the picture, then how should we define a man?

For Christians, the place to look for the definition of a man is the Bible and to the person of Jesus. In Jesus we see the perfect joining of some of the traits that we separate or remove when defining masculinity including; strength, justice, gentleness, grace, wrath, love, confidence, humility, etc. One of the main writers of the New Testament, Paul, knew this. In 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 he says, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” Then in his letter to Timothy, a leader in the church, he writes, “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.”

True manhood has little to do with what we desire or achieve.

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In both instances we see Paul framing manhood and masculinity with words that have nothing to do with pursuing profession, possessions, persons, power – or sex. Instead he tell us to pursue the things of God, that ultimately glorify Him and benefit others. True manhood has little to do with what we desire or achieve.

One of the best ways to display masculinity is to move our focus off ourselves and our desires and onto serving and standing for others, especially those that aren’t able to do it for themselves.

If we desire to be real men and to raise real men; our focus must be the pursuit of Jesus and the traits that reveal Him to others.

3 Reasons Why “Just Give it to Jesus” Isn’t Helpful

September 21, 2015 / Bruce Pagano II / 0 Comments

The year 2009 was one of deep hurt for me. I was involved in a divorce that I didn’t want and left wondering how to move forward as a single dad and an active duty military member. During that time, I had also recommitted to following Jesus and was trying to figure out how to answer God’s call to pastoral ministry. I had a lot going on. It was a season of great hurt, even greater healing and so much learning.

One of the things that God did to help walk me through that difficult time was surround me with a community of people that loved me. They were gracious and welcoming. But, more important than loving me, they loved Jesus. Because of their love for Jesus, their encouragement, wisdom and counsel were essential to my healing process. Along with the wise counsel that came out of those I was in Christian community with, came other “counsel” from goodhearted Christians that didn’t actually know the depth of my circumstances. One of those pieces of counsel that always frustrated me, more than it helped, was “Just give it to Jesus.”

I feel like this is one of the most misused pieces of Christian advice that can be offered by well-meaning Jesus followers. Unfortunately I’ve been on both ends of this misguided attempt to provide “wise council”. Somewhere along the way Christians turned King David’s song lyrics and Peter’s encouraging reminder into a solve all, catch phrase that carries very little actionable application. Here’s three reasons why it isn’t helpful.

1. It isn’t Biblical.

We’ll at least the way that we’ve interpreted it isn’t. The idea is built out of David in Psalm 55:22 and Peter’s reiteration of it in 1 Peter 5:7. Psalm 55:22 tells us to cast our burdens or, when Peter says it, anxieties on God. The problem isn’t with the word “cast,” which literally means “give” or “toss”. The issue is with the words “burden” and “anxiety”. People have taken these to mean any problems or negative circumstances that we experience, but what these words refer to isn’t that simple.

Both words mean something far deeper. The original Hebrew translation of “burden” is actually “gift”. That’s a bit unexpected. In this case “gift” also means affliction, trials, and troubles, but it can mean things that are agreeable and pleasing to us. While that may be confusing, understanding this clearly reveals a far more important purpose behind why David says it. David is saying that no matter our portion from God, we “commit [it] to His custody, and use [it] to His glory.” It’s about our ability to trust God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises to us. Likewise, the word “anxieties” doesn’t mean that you aren’t concerned for our circumstances, but is more about not letting circumstance divide our heart between God and other things. We are to give over difficulties to God so that our heart would not be divided and we are not drawn from Him who sustains us.

If “Give it to Jesus” isn’t exactly biblical, what is? In Galatians 6, Paul tell, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” The appropriate response to a brother or sister’s heavy burden is that you bear it with them. While Paul was in prison and in dire circumstance, he continued to have hope and comfort in Christ, but he still asked for people, like Timothy, to come be with him. He still needed the comfort and encouragement of fellow believers to help bear the burden. While it may be difficult to carry your burdens by yourself, it becomes easier the more people you have to help carry it.

If you want to honor Jesus, you have to bear burdens with others.

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2. It is Dismissive.

It’s like asking someone, in passing, “How are you?” and they proceed to actually tell you how they are doing. Obviously no one told them that the standard response is, “Busy. I’ve been really busy.” Now you’re forced to respond to them. Because it’s often difficult to know what to say and potentially requires a significant time investment on your part, most of us respond with the standard Christian “deflect and evade” counter-measure, “That’s tough, bro. I’ll pray for you.” While you might believe that they actually need someone to pray for them, really what you’re communicating is you don’t know what to say and you want to leave. As well-intended as it may seem, when you tell someone to “Just give it to Jesus” you’re actually telling them that you have nothing to offer them. You’re essentially saying, “That sucks that YOU’RE dealing with that, but I’m not and I don’t plan to.” If you’re a Christian, you don’t get off that easy. If you want to honor Jesus, you have to bear burdens with others.

3: It’s Not Tangible.

Although you’re not there to make the situation go away, real love does eliminate burden if it’s within the person’s ability to do so. Using those five words and leaving the person to sit in their despair isn’t very Jesus-like. The burdened brother/sister needs comfort, wisdom, insight, encouragement, and maybe someone to just be with them. Chances are that God has gifted with something from the list in Romans 12. If we have the ability to lighten or eliminate the burden of another person, we ought to. Real burden bearing is tangible.

Real burden bearing is tangible.

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Bearing others’ burdens has everything to do with our heart. If you’re seeking Jesus and allowing His Holy Spirit to transform you, your heart will change. We have to be willing to recognize that we get to choose to be like Him and when we do, He starts and completes that work. Sometimes, we just don’t know how to respond to another person’s difficult situation. That’s okay and that’s where Christian community comes in. What’s not okay is to never grow out of that.

Knowing how to respond isn’t always the easy. Here’s how theologian John Gill explained Galatians 6:2 and what bearing each others’ burden should look like,

“…by gently reproving them, by comforting them when over-pressed with guilt, by sympathizing with them in their sorrow, by praying to God to manifest his pardoning grace to them, and by forgiving them themselves, so far as they are faults committed against them…”

We can do things like praying with them in that moment, giving words of encouragement, taking there kids for a couple of hours to let them have a moment to think, buying their groceries, making them a meal, being with them, crying with them, hugging them… I imagine if you thought about it, you come up with better ones.

Christianity doesn’t exist for our own purposes and as means of getting out of doing life with others. It exists as a means of glorifying and loving God, though the loving and embracing of others, especially those who are hurting most.

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Author: Bruce Pagano II (Page 26 of 51)