Category: Christian life

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Jesus

This past Sunday, our pastor was talking about everything being wrapped up in Jesus. Since then I’ve been wondering how true that is. Is everything really wrapped up in Jesus?

I know it should be, but when I look at my own life and the lives of those around me, I have to wonder. Is our life wrapped up in Jesus? Is the totality of our existence really all about him?

This time of year we hear a lot about Jesus, how he came to be born as a human, how he came to save us from our sins. Is there more? Is the Christmas story only one of God coming to earth, being born in a stable, and dying on the cross so we can go to heaven? I think there’s more, but we have a tendency to pick and choose the parts of the story that make us feel good.

Some like the story of the little baby lying in the straw, with the shepherds and animals gathered round. They like the idea of peace on earth and good will to others. Add the ingredients of the American cultural Christmas and you have the makings of a nice holiday that makes most people feel rather good about themselves.

Some go a little further and emphasize the story of this little baby growing up and then dying to save us from our sins.They like the idea of avoiding Hell and going to Heaven. Couple that with a certain prayer to say and a set of propositions to assent to and those who have done that and are “in” can feel superior to those that are “out”.

It’s easy to forget about the three years that Jesus spent walking this earth teaching his disciples about his kingdom. It’s far too convenient to focus on the beginning chapters in the Gospels and ignore that this child was born to be King, that he was the Messiah promised throughout the Old Testament, that he is Lord over all creation. It’s also easy to concentrate on the final chapters of the Gospels and ignore that Jesus taught about the present reality of his kingdom as well as the future fulfilment.

Both extremes forget that, as Lord and King, Jesus calls us to move beyond the baby in the straw. He calls us to not be too preoccupied with the future. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords calls us to follow him.
A disciple follows his rabbi, his master, with the goal of becoming like him and being able to go make other disciples that will also become like the rabbi. An ancient Jewish saying stated that disciples should be covered in the dust from the feet of their rabbi.

Getting back to the idea of being wrapped up in Jesus; that is how our lives should be lived. To be wrapped up in Jesus means that we seek to live every moment in his presence, and seek to do every action with the same attitude that our Master has. We should strive to follow our Rabbi so closely that the dust from his feet covers us, so that when people see us in our day-to-day they see Jesus. It is not as easy as worshipping a baby in a manger. It is harder than agreeing to a set of beliefs or saying a certain prayer. It will cause us to lose our life. But, Jesus said that those who lose their life for his sake will find real life in him.

The world, and the church, needs people whose existence is wrapped up in the One who is setting all things right and who is coming again to finally bring his kingdom once and for all.

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Fixed?

On Tuesday, October 28, John Fischer wrote about “falling into grace” here. In this article he wrote about churches full of Christians who attempt to give the appearance of being fixed rather than broken and needy. He then went on to speak of the burden this puts on those who act as if they are fixed, yet know deep down how broken they really are.

I started thinking that maybe a big reason for the impotence of today’s Church is the belief, or at least the appearance, that we are “fixed”. Think about it. What does a veterinarian do to a male dog to keep it from siring puppies? He “fixes” it. Maybe churches are not multiplying because the people inside are “fixed”. Maybe in our attempt to appear as if we have it all together, to “keep a good testimony”, we have neutered the Gospel.

We are all broken. We are all in desperate need of God’s grace in our day-to-day. None of us has it all together. As Switchfoot sings:
“We are a beautiful letdown,
Painfully uncool,
The church of the dropouts
The losers, the sinners, the failures and the fools…”

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God’s Camera

Yesterday, I saw a sign in front of a church that read, “Smile, you’re on God’s camera”. I wondered what was meant by that. Growing up, I always was given the impression that God was up in heaven watching what we were doing and grading us on our actions. This would determine whether God was pleased with us or not. I was always told that I couldn’t hide anything from God in an attempt to keep me doing things I shouldn’t. This worked, some of the time. Most of the time I didn’t even stop to think that God was watching, so my “little hands” weren’t careful what they did; my “little eyes” weren’t careful what they saw; and my “little feet” certainly weren’t careful where they went.

I don’t believe that’s what the Psalmist intended when he wrote, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” It is true that there is nowhere we can go that takes us out of God’s presence. It is true that God knows our every thought and deed. But I believe that David wrote these words in Psalm 139 as praise to the God who was always with him and would always take care of him, not as a complaint that God was always watching so David couldn’t get away with anything. I am not saying that God is not watching or that we can get away with anything, I just don’t believe that’s the thrust of this Psalm.

God is not sitting “up” in heaven taking a picture of us so he can hold it against us – “Look what you did”. Jesus redeemed us, every bit of us, including the times we screw up. Anyway, does anyone really doubt that God already knows when we sin? Does he need to “watch”?

Now if the message on the sign meant that God was taking my picture just as any proud father enjoys taking pictures of his children, because he loves and enjoys them; well, I can live with that.

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To Those Who “Love Jesus”

I read and hear a lot from people who “love Jesus”. I wonder about this, because then I read and hear things that don’t match up with loving Jesus. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands.” Some of the things I see from those who claim to love Jesus are, to be quite frank, violations of His commands.

I’m not just talking about those whose life seems to be characterized by drunkenness, immorality, profanity, and a general who gives a f*** attitude. I see it in those who are judgemental, who are self righteous, who are racist, who ignore the poor and oppressed, who think that just because they go to the right church, use the right version of the Bible, and know all the right words, have it made.

Jesus called us to follow Him, to be His disciples. A disciple is one who will do anything to be like his master. The ancient Jews had a saying, “Follow a rabbi, drink in his words, and be covered with the dust of his feet.” That meant to follow him so closely that the dust he kicked up would cover them. That’s what it means to follow Jesus. To be so close that we are covered with his dust. The early believers were first called “Christians” as a derogatory term because the culture was calling them “little Christs”.

Maybe the reason the culture rejects “Christianity” is because they look at the “little Christs” and think, “If these people are really like Jesus, I don’t want anything to do with them or him.” Can we blame them?

It is past time for those who claim to love and follow Jesus to be serious about what that means. It means that we are willing to do whatever it takes to be like Him. It means reading the account of His life and teachings in the Gospels and the teaching about how to flesh this life out in the rest of the New Testament. It means being willing to give up my dreams and passions in return for God’s dreams and passions for me. When Jesus walked on water, Peter was willing to get out of the boat and risk drowning to be like his Rabbi. How willing are we?

There is a revolution growing in the body of Christ. A new Reformation. God is doing some great things. Join us.

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Falsetto Spirituality

In Soul Graffiti, Mark Scandrette writes, “A fascination with the supernatural can be a sign of spiritual fragmentation, a falsetto spirituality that strains to reach beyond the normal”. As I pondered that statement, I realized that it is so true in much of what is called Christianity.

The obvious examples of this “fascination with the supernatural” are those who run from place to place seeking signs and wonders and “fresh anointing” from God. The supposed moving of God can keep arenas, and ministry accounts, full for months as people swarm to experience a touch from God to lift their lives above the ordinary sameness of their daily lives. While some would consider these events on the fringe, there are other examples that hit a bit closer to home.

Mainstream evangelicalism is concerned with showing people how to have their best life now, with programs that will enable folks to experience a life that rises above the ordinary. Church leaders are given opportunities to learn the secrets of success from The CEO: Jesus. Congregations strive to be extraordinary and have bigger and better facilities and programs. Supernatural power that gets prayers answered and our needs (wants) supplied is constantly sought.

Even those of a more conservative, fundamental bent are not immune to a hunger for the supernatural. They seek a home far away in heaven, a home where the physical no longer matters, a place to escape this broken world. Many of the rules and regulations in fundamental groups seem designed to limit contact with this physical world and its “corruption”.

I’m not saying that the supernatural does not matter. I am awed when God performs genuine miracles of healing, and when he provides for his people in supernatural ways. I rejoice when prayers are answered and when godly leaders influence others to follow Jesus Christ. I too believe that this world is broken and corruption runs deep.

What I am saying, and what I think is the point of the quotation from Scandrette, is that the normal, ordinary parts of our lives matter. We are called to follow Jesus here and now, not in a future existence outside of this world. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom was here, that the King had arrived. Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world, but it does have an impact on this world. We have been given the commission and privilege to participate in the work that God is currently doing in this world.

If we look around us with eyes that can see, we can notice how God is working in the day-to-day of our lives. In fact, I think the really supernatural and miraculous thing is that the Creator of all things uses broken, ordinary people like us to do the work of restoring his creation, a work that will finally be complete when Jesus returns. The work of the Kingdom is not just those things that we see as “spiritual”. It sometimes involves getting dirty and dealing with ordinary things. But, then again, Jesus used ordinary things. He used spit and dirt to heal a blind man, for goodness sake! Why do we think we have to “rise above the ordinary”.

Look for God at work in the ordinary, and ask him where he wants you to fit into what he is doing. Don’t run after the supernatural. Remember, many times a falsetto voice doesn’t sound very good.

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Jesus and “Us”

There’s a guy in our town who puts religious messages on a sign from time to time. The current sign reads, “The last two letters in Jesus is us”.

I’m not quite sure how to think about it. I’m don’t know what message he is trying to get across. My first reaction was, “Typical American evangelical Christianity. It’s all about me.” After further consideration I thought that there is a sense in which the message of the sign is true. Jesus did die for individuals and individuals follow him.

On the other hand, there is a sense in which following Jesus is about so much more than the individual. I firmly believe that we are Christ’s disciples in community and that we need each other. I’m much more generous in my thinking about what form that community can take than I used to be, but I still believe we are called to be on this journey with others.

So, I’m kind of muddled in my thinking about this. What do you think?

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Hummingbirds II

A while back, I wrote about the hummingbirds that come to our feeder. A couple of days ago, I was sitting on the back porch and a hummingbird came to the feeder. It was interesting to watch because it spent all the time looking around to see if another bird was going to come chase it away. The poor thing never did get any nectar because it was afraid of the other hummingbird.

I got to thinking how often we are like that hummingbird. We are afraid to really follow Jesus because we are afraid of being attacked, by non-Christians and by Christians. Those of us who grew up in more conservative circles know what it’s like to always worry about doing something that will “harm your testimony” or “offend another Christian”. When I first began to realize that many of the things I was taught when I was younger were more in line with the culture that grew around the American Church in the past century than with what the Bible teaches, I still had times of looking over my shoulder in fear of what people might think or say.

That is not a Christ-honoring way of thinking. Jesus has set us free from the expectations and opinions of others. He has called us to follow him, not any system or philosophy concocted by human beings. A quick glance at the history of Christ followers shows the diversity in the ways we are called to follow. Beyond what we find in the New Testament, Jesus did not give us an exhaustive list of how to live our lives. Yes, there are certain principles that inform our lives, the most important being love God and love others. But there is a lot of life that is not as cut and dried as some would like to think.

Galations 5:1 Paul tells us that it is for freedom that Christ set us free. Galations 5:13 does tell us that we are not use our freedom as an excuse to sin, but much of the time that verse is misused as a weapon to get people to do what a particular group or person wants them to do.
We are free. Free to follow Christ in the way that he calls us, without worrying about what other people think. What can they do? Take our things? It all belongs to God anyway. Will they refuse fellowship? We have fellowship with the Father. Will they try to damage our reputation? What reputation? We’re all broken people in need of God’s grace and none of us is better than another. Will they take away our position? That frees us up to pursue another avenue of service. The worst they can do is kill us. If they do that, then we are with Christ. If we realize that all we are is because of God’s grace and that Jesus loves us no matter what, we can then be free to live our lives as the Holy Spirit leads us and become more like Jesus according to his schedule, not ours or any body else’s.

Don’t be like the hummingbird. Spend time drinking the nectar of God’s amazing grace instead of looking around to see who might attack you.

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Man-made or God-made?

This morning on the radio, the announcer was talking about the display that we see in spring, the beauty of the trees and flowers as they bloom and leaf out. He compared it to what we see at Christmas, with the lights and decorations. The Christmas displays have to be put up so, without human effort, there would be nothing to see. On the other hand, what we see in the spring is from God, and doesn’t depend on human effort. The beauty of spring far surpasses that of Christmas.

I think the same thing is true in our lives. We try to please God by our own efforts, by trying harder to not sin, by doing more spiritual things, and by teaching others to do those things. So many times the result is something far less than beautiful. Sometimes it looks like a tacky artificial tree with the most fake looking ornaments, sometimes it looks simply ugly.

By contrast, we can recognize that it is only by the grace of a merciful Father that we have anything. Because God is merciful and loving, and because Jesus has died for us on the cross, we can rest in the fact that we are loved by the Creator of all things and are heirs along with Jesus. If we fall into that endless, amazing grace and let the Holy Spirit work in us and form us into the image of Christ, the result will be something beautiful and wondrous to behold. Like spring.

There is another thing to remember when other people don’t seem to “get it” like we do. In spring, the plants don’t all come out at the same time. Sometimes even plants of the same species are on a different schedule. So it is with God’s children. We are all growing, just at different rates. Back when I was a teenager (way back in the dark ages), there was a popular saying among Christians: “Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet”. We need to remember that.

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Hands

This is something I wrote a little over a year ago. I thought of starting a “Best of” series like some other bloggers have, but I realized that “best of” would be a bit if an oxymoron for what I write. And anyway, imonk doesn’t read my blog so… 🙂

Nickel Creek has a song titled “The Hand Song”. The words are challenging.

The boy only wanted to give Mother something
And all of her roses had bloomed
Looking at her as he came rushing in with them
Knowing her roses were doomed
All she could see were some thorns buried deep
And the tears that he cried as she tended his wounds

And she knew it was love
It was one she could understand
He as showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

He still remembers that night as a child
On his mother’s knee
She held him close and she opened her Bible
And quietly started to read
And seeing a picture of Jesus he cried out
“Momma, he’s got some scars just like me.”

And he knew it was love
It was one he could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

Now the boy’s grown and moved out on his own
When Uncle Sam comes along
A foreign affair, but our young men were there
And luck had his number drawn
It wasn’t that long till our hero was gone
He gave to a friend what he learned at the cross

But they knew it was love
It was one they could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

How willing are we to do whatever it takes to show our love? We who have learned at the cross – do we give to others what we have learned?

Are we even willing to get our hands dirty, let alone hurt them to show the same love that Jesus showed us on the cross?