The Beast in the Mirror

Pardon me for a few minutes while I rant.

"Intellectual", "worldly", "secular", "seeker-friendly"... These are some of the charismatic world's favorite labels for the Christians it doesn't understand. You know - "ignorant" and "unstable" people. (Not my words. Please refer to 2 Peter.) If many of these label-happy Christians would read their Bibles very carefully, they would find that Jesus is the biggest offender of all. For such (false) religious zealots, might I suggest stepping out from behind your (false) religious goggles and reading the gospels. There IS a reason the gospel has been called scandalous. There was a reason that religious people hated and killed Jesus.

To those of you who know more churches doing it wrong than right:
1. Consider the sermon on the mount: judge things by their fruit. For example, could you convince ANY non-Christian (or me) that there is value in what YOU do every Sunday morning. Seriously, does it make a difference in anyone's life? Tell me why my life is lacking because I wasn't at your church last Sunday. (Feel free to comment.) P.S. Don't judge other people by a standard you don't have a chance of standing up to yourself.

2. Consider the beatitude, "blessed is the superior Christian, more religious than any other." Wait. That's not how it goes... How about this: "You are the body of Christ. Now, take a shot-gun and blow off all the parts you deem inferior to yourself." Phew. We got that one nailed down.

3. Jesus never called us to have church services. If Sunday morning is all you got and the apple of your ministerial/religious eye, Emperor Constantine would be proud, but Jesus might not be.

Let me conclude by saying this:
1. I do not apologize for my harshness.
2. I am particularly sensitive to this special type of "ignorance" because, for a long time, I was the one facing this beast in the mirror.
3. I am a pastor desperately trying to figure things out. What I have said, I say with humility, not arrogance. What the church needs (in my humble opinion) is for more Christians to step out of their fear so that we call all figure some things out and REALLY make a difference in this world.

"Who do you say that I am?"

...As Jesus and the disciples looked around at the plethora of Roman gods memorialized all around them, Jesus posed a question: "Who do the people say that I am?" He followed up with a more pointed version, "Who do YOU say that I am?"

As we approach Christmas day, this confrontation seems apropos once again. We are approaching the day to celebrate the birth of a special baby boy in the midst of a plethora of new gods clamoring for our attention: the seasonal gods of shopping and gift giving, cooking and eating, holiday parties, work bonuses, TV specials, decorations, and travel plans.

In thinking about this question, I must say that I can FEEL it. Somehow, it goes beyond my intellect and resonates deep in my soul. "Who do I say that he is?"

Perhaps you, too, can take a few quiet moments to ponder the question. "Who do you say that I am?" Before offering your answer, keep in mind the context in which Jesus asked it - 1) not to novices, but to his own disciples; 2) in the midst of the gods; 3) just before saying "He who would follow must take up his own cross. If you hang on to your life, you will lose it. If you give up you life for me, you'll find it."

So, who is Jesus? How does your life answer that question? How does soul answer the question?

"Who do you say that I am?" -Jesus Christ

Friends

I have been dreadfully neglectful keeping up with friends the past few months - school, a remodeling project at work (which kicked me out of my office for a while), work itself, the wonderful busyness of family life, etc.

In catching up with some friends, I am reminded how lucky I am to walk through this life in the company of people with whom I can laugh, learn, suffer, and grow. Thanks guys.

Giving and sacrifice

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity, along with several friends, to deliver sleeping bags, hot chocolate and sandwiches to the homeless of St. Louis. It was a wonderful experience. Many of the people in our group were teens and it was a pleasure watching them light up at the opportunity of helping someone in need.

In sitting here pondering my blogging angle on this event, this occurred to me: What a stark contrast there is between the deep satisfaction of feeding the homeless and the shallow, passing enjoyment of getting new stuff (that the commercials promise will bring us life and excitement).

Perhaps it is truly better to give than to receive - even when there is not an angle on giving. (IE: kick-backs from a loved one.) I am saddened to think that I give so little that this truth is mostly forgotten and must be rediscovered from time to time.

Jesus once said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter in to heaven. I believe this. I can feel in my soul that the more things I acquire, the more likely I am to come across something that I will not want to give up - for God or for a fellow man. The idols of "security" and "satisfaction" are monstrous foes to be faced by the rich.

Giving and sacrifice. Happiness is found in them. Perhaps they draw heaven a little closer, too. In giving to others, our greed is crucified once again. Our idols of security and satisfaction are crucified again. Best of all, in giving and sacrifice we are able to bless those around us.

Negligent Faith

Faith. It is the most important thing, right? Here's the thing , though. Most of us would never handle our jobs wit the same degree of negligence that we handle our faith. We would never handle our finances with same hap hazardous approach we use for our faith. Our spouses and children would classify us as "neglectful."

How is it that matters of faith, then, get pushed off onto the back burner. Why doesn't prayer ever really get done? Why are "daily" devotions the relegated to mystical super-Christians?

Maybe what we need a faith-based retirement (or death) planners...

"Yeah, um, when I die, I want to be ______________ prepared. I'm hoping for a crown of glory in heaven that is of __________ quality. What do I need to begin doing now to get there?"

Let's make some plans. Let's become the people we were born to be.

Failed Hero

This fall, my wife and I took our 3 boys to my grandparents' farm. We had a blast riding around with Uncle Dave in a brand new combine with all the amenities - including GPS that conveys moment by moment yield for every yard of every field. Very cool.

Anyway, after our combining adventure, we took the boys on a Gator rider around the farm. One of our first stops was the old swing. My brothers and I grew up swinging from the very same branch 30 feet up an old oak tree. It is such a big swing, my four year old was having second thoughts. Like any good parents, we decided to talk him into it. "Here. Mommy will go first. It's fun!"

With the first slight push to get her moving, there was a funny crackling sound from high above. A couple seconds later, a LARGE (4.5 foot X 12 inch round) branch crashed to the ground grazing Jody's head leaving her a nasty gash. Honestly, I'm not sure what would have happened if it had hit her square on the head.Everybody likes to imagine that, given the opportunity, we would step up in a dangerous situation and be a heroes. I had one of those opportunities. Believe me when I tell you that it came and went really fast. So fast, in fact, that I never even flinched... Sound, slight confusion, BOOM!

Fortunately, nothing bad resulted. But, I can't escape the thought that I COULD have saved her. I could have had a sacrificial and heroic moment. I failed. I am humbled even as I recount our day at the great swing. Perhaps next time, my ears will be more responsive at the first crackle of danger and I can amend this blog to "Hero at Last."

Perspective

As I sit here writing, a friend of mine is in China evading the authorities. No joke.

He went over to serve some Christians operating an orphanage. Those same Chinese Christians have now been arrested. One committed suicide to avoid the pending torture by the Chinese government.

I know this based on a few phone calls my friend has been able to make in hiding. He is hoping to be able to come home in a few days - that is unless the authorities are waiting to take him in at the airport. (You see, in the fleeing part, all of his stuff was left behind, including some things that would provide the government with identification.) No one will know until later this week.

I, on the other hand, spent the day hanging and finishing drywall. I also got riled up about something insignificant and complained to a few people.

What a contrast. Petty squabbling surrounding a church building project verses people risking (and giving) their lives for the sake of the gospel - the good news that Jesus Christ forgives, saves and gives hope.

Perspective... This (somewhat) famous picture is called "Pale Blue Dot". Between those two white bars is earth - the pale blue dot. This picture is not taken from that far away. Just the edge of our neighborhood somewhere about Pluto's orbit.

Funny how things change from far away. Most of the things I worry about don't seem to matter: the price of gas, the church building project, school, taking the trash out in the morning...

There are still some things that matter, though...

No resume. Just results.

Ever noticed how insatiable the drive is for people to justify themselves? Sometimes I even catch myself doing it on auto-pilot. I don't even realize what is happening - Someone questions me and I'm instinctively off to the races answering for myself.

The weird thing is that I know how ridiculous I sound , but I keep talking anyway. Furthermore, the harder we work at telling people our resume, the more we undermine the qualities about ourselves we are probably trying to defend. ...one of life's nasty little ironies.

The truth is, no one in the real world cares about your resume, only your results. If you want to convince the world of your worth (and hopefully your worth is not tied to their opinion), show them results. It takes restraint and patience, but in the end, the results of your actions will speak much louder than your words.

To Be or Not To Be...an Ostrich

I spent the past week at graduate school with a bunch of very smart and talented people. People smarter than me. People more talented than me.

Just a few minutes ago I was at church preaching. I felt like I had something to say worth saying. I felt like what I had to say would matter. I'm not sure that I said it in a manner that it did.

Here's the point - Life is a humbling experience. There are people smarter than you out there. There are people more talented than you out there. Sometimes all we can do is our best, even when it's not THE best.

Embrace humility. The rest of us will like you much more for having done it. We know that you're not the best and we like you anyway. Own up to the truth. Be a man.

Or, you can become an ostrich. Stick your head in the sand and deny the humiliation. In the real world, you'll look a little ridiculous, but you'll be in good company. People choose the delusion of superiority over the reality of humility all the time.

The Multitasking Whiner

As I Did you know sit here that multitasking now, I am bored out of my mind. I am "stuck in a is a fallacy. The moment and I can't get out of human brain it". We doesn't work that way. Smart all have doctors with brain to do scanning tools have proven things that we deem to be an incredible it. It actually gums waste of time. It's part of growing up, up the system. being a responsible adult, blah, up the system. blah, up the system. blah.

When we My change current predicament is a night tasks, our brains class lecture. Tick...tick...tasks, our brains tick goes the clock, yet the hands fail to take 15 minutes to advance. So, now I'm wasting your time as well. reboot.

People and Legacy

I had lunch with an old friend yesterday. It was a great time reminiscing about the way things used to be and catching up with the way that they are. My how things change! Back in the day, we were carefree college guys who liked cutting class to play tennis. Today, we're both husbands, dads and career-oriented employees. Somewhere between the house salad (with ranch) and the Southwestern chicken wrap, we began looking ahead a little bit. The question: are we headed towards our destinies?

I have had a pretty good life filled with things that people generally consider "significant." However, looking over my shoulder at those things, they feel a little bit like little league baseball trophies. A few years later, and they don't matter too much. The times with lasting significance, the times when I think I have "hit my stride" in reaching for my destiny all have to do with people. The times I have impacted another, invested my time and energy in the welfare of another - those times matter.

People matter. My wife matters. My three boys matter. Family matters. Friends matter. The inconvenient person I usually try to avoid matters. Long after the clamor of my activity has faded, my legacy in people may or may not live on - I prefer that it does.

So what about it. Maybe you and I can create, pursue, and seek opportunities, while we're about the typical activities of life, to positively impact the life of another. Create your legacy.

The What? The Church.

Imagine this.

God props His feet up. "Hmm. ...and then Jesus will ascend back into heaven, the Holy Spirit will descend upon the people, and I'll need an entity to tell the whole world the good news and to bring about My kingdom on the earth. I'll call that entity the church."

Really God? The church?

I don't know about you, but as I look around at "the church", I'm thinking that this can't be what God intended: a bunch of people sitting around on Sunday morning before grabbing lunch and watching football. Does "church" matter? What if we ask people outside the club: "Does church matter?" I bet I know what they'll say.

Just a thought, what if as the "church" we started doings things that mattered, instead of just doing 'what we do'. A revolutionary thought, don't you think.

If you could never attend another worship service, how would you go about being the church? This week, how could you go about showing someone outside the church that the church matters?

Less is more?

Isn't it ironic that life can be full of perfectly enjoyable things, yet we fail to enjoy anything?

I have a beautiful wife...
and three amazing boys...
and a great job...
and the opportunity to go back to school...
and several really good friends...
and a nice house...
and a truck...
and a new guitar...
and some dreams...

So many things to enjoy, so little time. In running from one thing to the next, I find myself too busy to enjoy anything. If your heart is truly where your treasure is, then mine may be lost in the vault.

Simplicity. Hmm. I'l have to give that some thought after I finish my homework, wash my truck and play some football with my four year old.