Razor Blades And Punches

by Tyler Zach



Since I am on a streak about my childhood delinquency, let me tell you another story.

In fourth grade, one of my friends was being bullied by my big, bad, cousin Brandy. I had to do something about this. So, I went into my mom’s classroom (she taught in the high school next door) after school and stole one of her yearbook razors. The next day at recess I told Josh that I would scare Brandy for him so that she would stop bullying him. I pulled out my razor and started to run after Brandy. I shouted, “Ohhhh Brandy, come heeeere”. She screamed and started to run too.

Long story short, she told the teacher that I swiped her with my razor. She claimed that a ripped seam underneath the armpit of her coat was the result of my razor attack. It was most certainly not. But you can imagine the controversy it started at school. Not good!

It is easy to view that action as "sin". Threatening people with a razor is a clear and concrete example of something you shouldn’t do. The list goes on. Don’t cheat. Don’t steal. Don’t say cuss words. But sin is much more than that.

The ancient archers of Israel called it “chata”. Greek archers called it “amartia”. Both of these words mean “you missed it,” or “you fell short.”

God has used this to shape my idea and belief of sin.

I’m starting to get the picture that I don’t sin 8-10 times a day like I previously thought, but rather 8-10 thousand times.

If the old English archers were right in calling a shot that “missed the bull’s-eye” sin, then anything that I do…that is not perfect in God’s eyes is sin.

Do we worship a perfectionist God? Yes. Does he require us to be perfect like Him? Yes. Does He accept us where we are right now in our imperfect state? Of course. That is the plan. We have to depend on Him for our growth…not ourselves.

Real repentance (the act of admitting your “missing the mark” and turning to God Himself for spiritual transformation) is God’s way of making us holy - as He is holy (to get us closer and closer to the bull’s-eye).

The fact that we “miss the mark” thousdands of times a day should keep us on our knees (fully humbled) with a great fear of God.

Years ago, I asked my Japanese roomate, Tomo, "When was the last time you sinned"? He replied, "In primary school, when I punched someone."

Do you have an unhealthy realization of your sinfulness? Do you view sin as a black and white list?

What is your first reaction to this? Is it to resist humility and cling to pride? Or do you want to fall on your knees right now, repent, and ask God to radically transform you?

Stealing Clothes' Tags Is Good/Bad

by Tyler Zach



When I was a youngster I absolutely loved collecting all kinds of things.

One of the many items that I collected was clothes' tags. I am a dork, I know. There was a nice shoebox full of clothes' tags on my little white cart of collected items. When my mom would take me and my sister to the mall, I looked forward to going through aisles of clothes and picking up tags that had fallen on the floor (not price tags, but the good brand name tags).

You might be thinking, “Usually there aren’t very many tags just lying around on the floor”.

Well, you see, I started to get very frustrated when I was only averaging about 2-3 tags per mall visit. That means I was only gaining about 12-18 tags a year. That is a loser collection.

So, just as Adam and Eve stared at the apple hanging from the forbidden tree, there I was staring at a dazzling, 4-inch in diameter, extra glossy, 256-bit color, brand name tag. Even though I was little, I still knew in my heart that it would be wrong to pull it off.

To make a long story short, about an hour later, the store lady found me. Looking at me with steaming nostrils she said, “Where did you get all those”? I stared at the floor for a minute and then mumbled, “On the flooooor.”

Sin is basically trying to do or get something good in the wrong way...like stealing brand name tags.

(Please leave a comment if you agree or disagree)

For instance, if I were to have premarital sex with my girlfriend, it would be a good thing...right? God made sex to be a wonderful, intimate, connecting experience. However, God has a different context for that situation. He knows that it would be harmful and destructive for me and therefore does not permit it - not because He is a no-fun God, but because He is a great God who cares about me as His son.

“He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.” – Hebrews 12:10

So when I actually try to get something good at the wrong time or in the wrong way, I’m rejecting my Father’s authority, wisdom, and discernment just like a child rejects the parent when he or she screams back, “Nooooooo.”

How are you “pulling tags” and trying to acquire good things in the wrong way?

Do you view a holy lifestyle as restricting? Do you view God as a judgmental, overly strict God?

Do you see that God’s discipline is out of love – constantly trying to protect us from our sinful ways so that we may share His holiness?

No More Pledges, No More Law

by Tyler Zach



In the Greek system (by that I mean fraternities and sororities, not actually people living in Greece), we have come to know full well what a pledge is, or rather a pledging model.

Most members probably had to go through some type of pledging process before joining their organization.

Pledging = the process of becoming a member that usually involves a checklist of things to complete (such as tests, campus responsibilities, good grades, hazing activities, etc.)
Each fraternity and sorority differs in this area.

My national fraternity is trying to make pledging obsolete by implementing a plan (BMP) that would make a college student an official member - the first day that he walks in the door - instead of having to "earn his way" into the chapter through the pledging process. As you can imagine, this is an uphill battle. Why?

I think it is because we naturally hate giving grace (grace meaning undeserved gift). We want students to earn their way into the chapter. Giving them a certificate and pin on the first day seems unfair!

This reminds me of "the law" in the Old Testament. God implemented a pledging process for His followers by giving them a law to adhere to. The followers were to abide by these laws so that they could earn access to Him. However, the followers soon realized that they could not possibly follow these laws to the T. They were too sinful. They were imperfect people in need of grace. That is why their head honcho priest would once a year offer a blood (animal) sacrifice to God. This sacrifice was supposed to cover the sins of every person in the tribe - since they themselves could not perfectly follow the law.

However, God did away with the pledging process when he brought His son Jesus into the world. Instead of having priests make sacrifices every year, God wanted his Son to became the last blood sacrifice...ever. The blood that He shed would cover all of His followers' sins - even in the generations to come!

"...we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." - Hebrews 10:10

Now, since the pledging process has ended, our access to God is all grace (given to us freely even though we are undeserving) because Jesus, the perfect, died for us, the imperfect.

Just as we enter into the Kingdom of God by confessing Jesus' sacrifice for us and living out His beliefs (not by jumping through hoops), so also does a student at my college now enter into the fraternity by confessing and living out its beliefs (not by jumping through pledging hoops).

Does your church teach that we are saved solely by the blood of Christ? Or do they teach that you must also jump through hoops to earn access to God?

False Intimacy Through Gossip and Stuff

by Tyler Zach



I am a recovering gossiper among many other things.

Sitting around a large group of people it seems I rarely have much to say. One day, while I was feeling very isolated, I pondered with all my might something cool to say. Then, an idea quickly popped into my head. Earlier that morning, I had read an article that caught my eye (on a sidebar) while I was logging into my hotmail account. Suddenly, I opened my mouth, and with much drama, I said, “Hey, did you guys hear about blah blah blah?” Quickly, an imaginary spotlight turned on and everyone turned their head towards me. I was now the center of attention.

Gossip is so easy…for both guys and girls. I think that gossiping, over-dramatizing stories that happen to us, and any other form of stretching the truth comes way to natural. Why is this the case? Our need for intimacy?

As humans, we crave authentic relationships. God designed us to be relational people that grow intimately towards Him and other people. When we gossip or stretch the truth, we are making a giant attempt to draw our audience closer to us and create a strong bond – a bond that is constructed through falsehood, not the truth.

When I pretend that I’ve been wounded by someone, my friend’s instant reaction is to share my pain and comfort me and confirm that I was indeed treated unfairly. “I can’t believe so and so did that to you,” my friend responds. “How can people be so stupid,” he continues. “I’m glad that WE are smart and competent and good-hearted,” both of us think inside our heads at the same time.

This makes us feel good inside and loved and cared for. But, this intimacy was still not brought about by truth…but falsehood.

Could it be that we stretch the truth and talk about other people so much because we ourselves don’t know how to speak in truth? Are we afraid that if we speak the truth about other people AND talk about our own life situations exactly how they happen (instead of adding extra cool stuff)…that we would be lessened and simply known as boring individuals?

Do you, like me, like to talk about other people so that you can gain favor or intimacy with your friends or family members?

What or who does your family talk about when they get together for family events?

What or who do you talk about during your guys’ or girls’ night out?

"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." James 1:26

“LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman…he who does these things will never be shaken.” Psalm 15:1-5

Fraternity Trophies Stolen

by Tyler Zach



It was a quiet weekend night in my old fraternity house.

Most of the members were either gone or asleep. The front door is usually locked, but on this night it was ajar. Two members from another rival fraternity snuck in to see if the President was home. They soon realized that no one was out and about. After having been drinking all night, they thought it would be funny to steal over a dozen of the chapter’s trophies and plaques and then return them later – as a joke.

A few of the items were returned later, but many more items are still missing. There is an ongoing debate now to find out if these two fraternity guys stole all of the missing items.

Either way, I hope that justice is served to whomever was involved. The point I’m going to make isn’t about stealing, but about the trophies themselves.

It can be very easy to place a lot of value on our prized possessions. And when these possessions or trophies are taken away from us, we lose that sense of value. This should make us stop and think about whether our hard work was accomplished for the things that are seen (worldly trophies) or the things that are unseen (eternal inheritance).

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:18

While working hard with perseverance to accomplish victory after victory in every avenue on campus is a noble thing, if the trophies become the end to which we strive for and the object obtained in order that we may boast of our greatness – then we have already strived for the wrong thing. Because once those trophies are taken away (the very things we devoted all our hard work to), then we are left with empty hearts.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” – Mathew 6:19-20

In high school, I went after every track medal, speech medal, wrestling medal, football trophy, and academic certificate I could get my hands on! I wanted to prove to everyone that I was a hard worker who deserved a lot of attention. I did work very hard which was noble, but I did those things mostly for self gain.

If I could go back...I would try to devote more time to relationships with friends and classmates - serving them, loving them, and sharing the truth with them. Those are the things that will last forever and the things I will get eternal rewards for.

"For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." - Matthew 16:27

Once again, I hope that justice is served and that there are consequences for the thieves. However, our motives and our passions can be evaluated through this experience as well!