Street Cred

Wow, this is my first blog! And no, I don’t mean “this is my first blog at Calvary”. No, instead I am admitting that this is my first blogging experience EVER!!!! I can just feel my Street Cred increasing as I type!!! :)

Which got me thinking about “Street Cred” ... You know, my coolness factor, my "gettin' in touch with my hip-hop self". So I looked it up, and I went where all us out-of-touch middle-aged white males go for street info. I went to the website www.urbandictionary.com. (I love that site!) Anyway, there was one not-so-serious entry for Street Cred which was kind of fun. It actually assigned points for various things, and, took coolness points away for others. Check this out ... Go ahead and score your Street Cred. You get points as follows (again, this is from the urban dictionary)...

Plus 5 points- for being born black
5 point- Born in a single parent home
10 points- Born poor
50 points- Sold 'Hard' drugs - crack, cocaine, Heroin
65 points- Been shot and survived
75 points- Been shot multiple times and survived
70 points- Gang member of crips or bloods
65 points- Been to prison
40 points- Been to Jail
20 points- Have at least 10 tattoos
20 points- Kicked out of high school or dropped out
20 points- 16 years old and have a baby mama
-75 Points- Born rich
-50 Points- Speak proper English
-60 Points- Have white friends
-5 Points- Born white
-95 Points- Born in a safe neighborhood
-100 Points- No criminal record
-40 Points- Live with both parents
-35 Points- Smile when someone takes your photo
-60 Points- Straight A student
-2000 Points- Born in Utah, Maine, New Hampshire, Montana or Arizona.

Well, turns out that maybe blogging doesn’t help my street cred after all.

All this got me thinking. What gives us cred with God? Well, the answer is nothing. Black/white; rich/poor; educated/not - it doesn't matter. All (yes all, every one of us) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Paul writes in Romans that that "no human being will be justified in his sight by deeds prescribed by the law” (Rom 3:20) ... translation ... No “God-Cred” points for any of us! We’re all the same. We’re all in the same sinking boat. Cool or not. Sinking.

But there’s Good News! Paul continues (Romans 3:21-25) by saying, “But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.”

So there it is ... our “God-Cred” comes from Christ and Him alone! It's a gift!

Sah-weeeeet!!!!

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Mark