Community

Community is a word with almost no meaning anymore. In an age of individualism, where we are out to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps, there is no room for having a community. Indeed, when deciding on major issues such as our where we live and work, community is usually at the bottom of the list and if it is thought of at all, it is in relationship to a crime rate. Community has gone the way of the extended family in our country and we now live in neighborhoods, not communities. Anyone can be neighbors simple by proximity, but that does not make it a community. What is community and what should it look like? It is a sharing of personal property and time for a common good. It is taking serious interest in each other lives beyond curious prying. It is fellowshipping, sacrificing, sharing and living life to the fullest. It is all this and so much more. I am so thankful that I have had the grandest of opportunities to grow up in a real community, flawed and in the rough as it is. But I still wonder, what more there must be out there that we are missing out on in this gift of God to mankind we call a community.

Radical Life

Everyone wants to live their life radically. While the goals and methods of doing this significantly vary, you will never find an individual who says, “I hope to live a plain, uneventful life that hopefully has minimal impact.” A bumper stickers I once saw read, "LIFE IS NOT A JOURNEY TO THE GRAVE WITH THE INTENTION OF ARRIVING SAFELY IN A PRETTY AND WELL PRESERVED BODY, BUT RATHER TO SKID IN BROADSIDE, THOROUGHLY USED UP, TOTALLY WORN OUT, AND LOUDLY PROCLAIMING: ‘WOW...WHAT A RIDE!’”

I fully believe that God has instill us with certain instincts for our good and in order to fulfill His purpose. Without the interpretation of God's Word, these instincts will lead us astray, but I believe they also tell us about who God meant us to be. Some people will wonder through their whole life searching for meaning and significance, unable to see that God has given us all the purpose and significance we could every want in serving Him. While it is easy to write and talk about living radical lives of service, what does a life like this look like practically? Often with me, there is a lot passion and talk, but there is also fear, laziness, and a desire for comfort and security. At the root of the matter is holding our hearts focus in such a manner that every moment of every day, every conversation, every action, and every thought become a way to serve God and serve other people. It is striving toward the goal of demonstrating in the way we live our lives, the way we speak, the way we spend our time and money, that God is our greatest treasure and our higher aim is to bring Him all the glory.

American Christianity

Recently, I listened to Paul Washer's message on American Christianity. It is, I believe, our default mode when truth is heard, to turn around and want to share it. This is a good and natural thing, but what is not natural is to carefully evaluate our own life first in light of it. In the world and some churches today, Jesus Christ is seen only as the ticket to a better life and heaven and we become the ticket sellers. If this is the case, once you have your ticket and your place in heaven is reserved, you can live any way you feel until the show starts. Jesus said "wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14) How much does the way we live our lives portray an image of a small gate but with the broad road to destruction beyond? In other words, we hold out Jesus as the only way to eternal life for people, yet live our lives in a manner indistinguishable from everybody else, comparing our holiness to one another instead of the Bible. It is a sobering thought to consider if my life is flavored with radical saltiness and shines with the radical light of Jesus Christ, or if, for the sake of my own comfort, convenience, tolerance, or acceptance, I have lulled someone toward an eternal hell.

Humility

I read CJ Mahaney's little book on humility while in Montana and have once again been reminded of how central humility must be and how prideful my tendencies are. I heard someone once compare an examination of humility in our live to be like peeling an onion. You peel off one layer, only to find another and another. I can think I am humble because I don't boast about myself, but do I think like a humbly person? I can think humbly of myself but take pride in my humility, so am I really humble? It seems like the deeper I dig, pride will always turn up in one form or another. If this is not proof of my total depravity, I don't know what is. I must constantly be reminded of this or else I will forget that my only hope for anything good to come out of me is in God's sovereign grace over my life. When I forget this, it become a constant struggle to avoid sin and an adherence to religion takes the place of adherence to God. My joy becomes based on my good works or situation and not God's work for me. As has been pointed out before, my greatest enemy is indeed John Paul.

God's Gift of Friends

On this glorious occasion of a wedding, it reminds me of how thankful I am to be blessed enough to know such people. Second only to God's gift of Himself through Jesus Christ, I am most glad for the His gift of His people to me. It would indeed be a lonely, hard road to walk through this life without the joy and happiness that can be found when people gather together who have a mutual affection and passion for Jesus Christ and who can worship and celebrate together all the good thing He has given us. It is moments like this that make life worth living and the trail and heart-aches of this world more than worth bearing by getting a foretaste of things to come after this life. "I can only imagine."

The Faith of the "Better Season"

I have been away from my church for a few weeks and during this time I have had the chance to hear from some other Christians who hold a different view of God. As always, it provided refreshing insight into my own set ways and beliefs. The underlying current that struck me was the idea that God will bless you for following him. The implication is that if you are not being blessed, than it is God's judgement. Christ becomes just the ticket to the show, a way to prosperity and heaven.

To our human minds it all seems to make sense, God blesses the good and curses the bad. Close your eyes for the moment it even seems right, but open you eyes and look around at the pain filled lives of real people and you have to stop short. Bad things continue to happen to good people.

How can I tell a grieving mother with her only son in the grave yard that God only wants joy and happiness on earth for her. Will the idea that there is always a "better season" to come if she just has faith, sustain her in her loss? No wonder people are walking out of church. The propriety gospel sounds good when life is easy, and on the surface, it is hard to find anything wrong with what is said. What is so terribly wrong, is what is left unsaid. The focus becomes on our actions and not on God. Pride in our deeds takes hold, our faith becomes shallow and Jesus pointless. If there is no spiritual deadness, than there is no necessity for a bloody sacrifice. If Jesus wants everyone to go to heaven, why hasn't God the father got the word? If I just acknowledge God, everything will work itself out, so there is no reason to lay down my life, just a Christ laid down His for me. My only hope becomes worldly success in order to have any outward sign of God's favor towards me and if that is my hope, I might as well die.

Rather, let me hear about a God that blows my mind, one that I cannot get my head around. Let me run to him and lay down every earthly ambition for His glory. Give me a bloody cross as my banner to carry into the fight and to plant on every hill as my proof of God's love. And if necessary, make my life a living hell so that no one might say that God only loves those whom He blesses with earthly gains.

Turning A Battle Ship

I heard Kevin DeYoung give his talk on “Just Do Something” some months ago and have just now read his book by the same title. His points during the talk were simple and the book is small and therefore contains very little that I had not heard previously. Still, it was a good reminder and as often happens, you see things in a slightly new light the second time.

In both his book and talk, DeYoung makes the simple argument that there is no “Will of God” for our lives beyond what He has commanded through the Bible. St. Augustine put it this way: “Love God, and do what you want”, meaning; as long as it is not sinful, whatever you want to do is part of the will of God for your life. A lot fall under the “love God” part and we must seek for the wisdom, which He has promised to give us, in order to judge our own motives, even if what we want is not inherently sinful. The aim is to encourage Christians, especially young guys like me, to stop wasting their lives by tinkering around, blaming their apathy on a search for God’s Will or calling.

As friend once told me, “Just as it is impossible to turn a battle ship that is dead in the water, so you must be moving forward in order for God to direct your life.”