Matthew 13:3-9
"A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."

I didn’t grow up on a farm, but my parents did have a small garden in the backyard when I lived in Pennsylvania. Every spring, we removed rocks and weeds and turned the earth over so that it would be hospitable to seeds. Getting the soil just right was no easy matter- our small garden took days to prepare. It meant sweat, sore muscles, and dirt caked under my fingernails for the next week. I always had this major blister on my thumb from cracking at the ground with the hoe.

In Matthew, Jesus explains that good soil represents those who hear the word and understand it. I figure there’s got to be a lot of effort that must go into the process. It means a lot of tears shed, sleepless nights listening for God’s voice, and an overwhelming sense of frustration as we pray and yearn to take in the word of God. It means sifting through the hardness in our hearts and allowing God to break up the dirt and remove the bitter rocks and tangled weeds we’ve stored within our soul.

And even when the soil is ready and the seed of God is given to us, we are forced to make a decision. We must do something with the words we have obtained. An intellectual consideration of Jesus words never produced much. We only gain the fruit of our labors when we put our understanding into action.

But in the end, just like the garden in my backyard- the fruit from the past years fall into the soil of our life and makes it even more fertile than ever. The blood, sweat and tears are met with the delight of the sweet, delicious taste of Truth.

Mark 7:6-7
"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

I’d like to pretend that I give God more than lip service in my worship, but the truth is there are two huge barricades that I've built into my own life that don’t allow me to engage my heart in worship the way I might:

1, I make my sin intellectual and conceptual
Derek Webb says that if we agree we are sinful intellectually, but cannot put our finger on a sin that we've committed all day- then we're not truly repentant. I am guilty of this more often than I would like to admit. I can recite the “4 Spiritual Laws.” I know that man has a sinful nature. I can even admit that I mess up all the time. But I cannot really pinpoint what messing up means in my heart during the last four hours. The problem is this: if I am only conceptually sinful, I cannot have anything more than conceptual repentance. The life-changing work of repentance will always be missing from my heart.
 
2. I use other people's problems to cover my own
Sometimes when I’m reading through the scriptures or listening to a sermon I am quick to think – “Wow, [insert someone’s name here] really needs to hear this.” It is so easy to read verses and pretend they apply to other people. But playing this game is basically just a ploy serving to take the attention off of ourselves. It allows us to temporarily create a world where our own problems do not exist. We end up thinking we have it all together, when in reality, the smoke screen only plunges us further and further into deception.

Socrates is quoted to have said "the unexamined life is not worth living." I so desperately want to begin to fight against these barricades, examining my heart and making sin personal and specific. The goal: personal and specific repentance.

1 Corinthians 1:10
“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”

The debate between Fatalism (basically, predestination) and Free-will is one of the longest standing, hotly contested arguments in the history of the world. Long before Calvinists and Armenians began disputing this issue in regards to Christ, the conversation about whether our paths have been predetermined by some force beyond us or chosen solely by the individual have been raging in the realms of philosophy, politics, and religion. And as much as the passionate defenders of either side would like to sway the argument in either direction- I find it very hard to believe that there will ever be a sound answer for something that is so shrouded in mystery.

When Paul asked the Corinthians to agree and allow no divisions, I wonder if he may have been speaking a word directly to our hearts on this matter. Perhaps there are some issues that are really nothing more than clever distractions, keeping us from experiencing fellowship and unity and obedience. Hanging on to the idea that we have to be right, at all cost, isolates us from the rest of world who are clamoring for things much more important to our lives than correctness about mysteries that are beyond us.

My friend Seth and I were talking about these realities as we walked out of Mall at Millenia tonight. In the midst of our conversation, we easily could have missed the three French exchange students who had missed the bus back to their apartment. We almost overlooked their timid cry for help. As we dropped them off at the guard gate by their apartment, Seth whispered- “we were just Jesus to those kids” and I was thankful that we had halted the semantics long enough to make a difference in the evening of three students, far from home and lost in America.

Ezekiel 36:26
”I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

I am in the Hospital Cafe and I am scared. My wife is upstairs undergoing minor exploratory surgery with general anesthesia.

A half an hour ago the nurses were commenting about how amazing it is that her blood pressure is holding steady at forty beats per minute. I tell them it is because she spends a few hours each week on the elliptical machine at the Gym. They give me a surprised look and tell me that she must be the healthiest person they have ever had in the Hospital. I laugh at the irony; the healthiest person at the Hospital is still here because something is not quite right within her.

We have been married for 5 ½ months.

Six months ago, I would have expected today to be filled with us making eyes at each other, possibly snuggling up on the couch in wedding bliss. I would never have seen myself here. I would not have expected to be filled with dread that something terrible could be going on in surgery and that I may never see my wife alive again. But there is something wrong inside of her. It requires intervention from someone other than us because it’s not something that either one of us can effect on our own.

But here's the rub, even if I were not in the hospital today, the chances of living in perfect bliss are pretty slim. There is something wrong inside of me, too and it is not physical. There is selfishness in me which seeks my own desires ahead of anyone else’s. There is pride that will not allow me to admit when I am wrong. There is vanity which tells me that I deserve the best and anyone who shortchanges me is holding out what is rightfully mine for the taking.

I assumed getting married would solve my relational problems and allow me to live free and peaceful. But in fact, marriage does not automatically change two people into a brilliant demonstration of love any more than it completely healed my wife’s body physically. We are still broken and messed up and in need of restoration that we are incapable of providing on our own. We need a surgeon to operate on our hearts and remove the damage that life has left within us.

God’s been teaching me through today’s experience that there are certain things that are beyond my ability. I cannot heal my wife and I cannot heal myself. I need His provision. He is the Great Surgeon responsible for both.

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I saw this movie about Santa Claus, where his sled wouldn’t fly unless people believed that he existed. His power was completely dependent on the belief of the world and without belief, he was just an ordinary guy who made toys and hung out with elves.

There’s this bit of vanity in me that sometimes treats God this way, too. I sometimes think my purpose in life to be a lawyer or marketing agent for God. Attention must be drawn toward the Truth and a battle must be waged to fight back the lies of the world. With my facts all lined up I feel that it may be possible to persuade everyone that I am correct and that they should agree with me.

Case in point: I remember arguing with some friends one day about whether or not God even existed- as if my logic somehow proved Him. But there are some things that aren’t going to change if someone stops believing in them. Like Physics. Gravity isn’t going to stop holding me here on planet earth simply because I stop believing in it. My belief about gravity doesn’t change the laws of Physics.

I think Jesus was saying something about Truth when He chose to give no “defense” or “marketing” campaign to get Him out of the clutches of men who lied about who He was and twisted His words to accuse Him. He let insult and injury pour down on His body without every recoiling and ever responding in a way that He could have.

With this example before me, I’m coming to understand that Truth does not need to be defended. It needs to be lived. Jesus never asked me to come to His defense as if His existence depended on people believing in Him. He asks me to live in Truth and obedience. He asks me to be like Him.

Genesis 50:20
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive...”

I have a friend whose mother would not let her read Sylvia Plath when we were growing up because of a suicide that had occurred in her family. She wanted to keep the broken pieces hidden in the corner, and was afraid that the candid words of “The Bell Jar” and other stories would bring up ideas in her daughter's head that would ruin her forever. In some way, I think my flannel-graph wielding Sunday School teachers may have done something similar by shielding me from some of the flaws of biblical characters. I had this strange idea that these perfect patriarchs of old managed to get into the bible because of the ideal lives that they lived in beautiful relationship with God.

Then I actually started reading the bible for myself and realized that these people in the bible were really messed up. The very first family in the bible is dysfunctional. Within the first few chapters of Genesis, Adam and Eve are in a power struggle and their first son ends up killing his brother. Over the next few pages- a world of people who are consumed with murder, adultery, rape, lies, thievery, revenge, evil business practices, trickery, and oppression are revealed. Suddenly, the people who I was taught to emulate as a child did not appear quite as ideal as I once suspected.

But they did seem much more real than the felt cutouts I remember from my youth.

The reality is, that we live in a messed up and broken world. We have dysfunctional families of our own and a whole bagful of mistakes to lay out on the table. If all we had for inspiration were the lives of perfect people living in an ideal world of gladness with God- it would probably seem like a fairy tale story designed to rub salt in our gaping wounds.

But instead, we have a picture of people who weren’t perfect. They came from all kinds of problems. They were broken and sinful and often wallowed in depression and pain. They ended up in bad places and made a lot of bad choices with their lives that affected not only them, but generations that followed. But in the midst of this brokenness was set a brilliant hope- the hope that people of all backgrounds can still be used for good things.

Something Joseph said to his brothers a number of years after they beat him up and threw him at the bottom of a well has stuck with me. Instead of locking up his terrible brothers on the spot, or even giving them a smug attitude of elitism in the face of the violence that had brought them to Egypt to beg for food, he turns and says- “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Genesis 50:20)” Joseph did not hide his brother's terrible acts, but he did place them into the right perspective. And the right perspective will change everything about your life.

Romans 1:21-23
“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

I keep thinking about the passage that we discussed on Sunday evening in Judges about how the choices of a few individuals opened up the doors for civil war in an entire people group. The impact of these small decisions transcended the moment and became bigger than anyone could have expected.

It’s funny how in the same way the quietest remark or the slightest look can turn a conversation from incredibly fun to a blazing quarrel. There are some moments where I am in the middle of an argument and just stop and wonder- “How in the world did I get here? How did this conversation suddenly leave me angry and bitter and alone?”

I think that perhaps God gave us parameters to live by, not to punish or restrict us, but to visibly show us that our choices do matter and what we choose will make a difference in who we are and who we will become. By asking us to say "no" to certain things, He is really showing us that there are some life changing decisions that we are capable of making- and that He wants us to make the right choices.

Paul says some pretty strong words on this topic in Romans 1. He points out that the habit pattern of bad choices leads to more and more chaos surrounding our lives. He shows us that the more we reject good decisions, the further we are from really understanding God, ourselves, or the world around us. And the less we understand, the more likely it is that our impact on the world will leave others raving about the selfish decisions that left a wake of destruction in our paths rather than a legacy of compassion and goodwill spread into the world around us.
 
I don't know about you, but I really want my choices to shape the world in an creative and life-giving way. So, with this thought before me I am trying to separate myself from the life-pattern I've been saturated in of ignoring God's instruction.

Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…” (v.31-32)

There's a literary term called foreshadowing which works like a camera, focusing in on certain details that allow us to see what is going to happen. When it is done well, foreshadowing never takes away from the story. In fact, it adds to our intrigue because we are so caught up in the lives of the characters that triumph and tragedy are celebrated in grand intensity as the tale unfolds.

I'm starting to think about my own life (and eventually death) with this in mind.

I honestly hate thinking about death. I'm not sure if it's because I love life so much or if it's because I'm scared that I don't love life enough. But either way, when I attend funerals or hear of someone’s death (especially someone I care about) it forces me to grapple with eternity- with something beyond today. And this is a good thing, because when I get too stuck in a moment it's almost as if I'm missing a piece of myself that was meant for something bigger.

Jesus spoke of death often. But when he spoke about death, it was never spoken in a tone meant to scare us into loving God.
 
Death (and hell especially) were positioned into Jesus’ conversation in such a way as to show us the natural outworking of our lives, left without intervention. This foreshadowing allows us to see the eventual outcome of our lives without Him. It is not posited as punishment from His hand but rather as the innate path that we take as humanity. Jesus’ stories were told to reveal our self-centered, lonely nature. He wanted to let us in on the fact that we have another option.

But we have to come to the place where we are willing to say, “Ok, I am tired of living lonely and I can see that my own devises lead toward something less than what I was intended for,” in order to embrace Jesus. What He really asks of us is the humility to see that He is better than what we can come up with on our own.

Luke 22:19b
“…Do this in remembrance of Me.”

On the way home from Status the other night, I was thinking about the rich symbolism of Jewish Culture as seen through imagery of Passover. I was getting a little envious. “Why don’t my traditions point toward Jesus?” I thought.

Much of my life I have been told that popular traditions have raped the real meaning of our celebrations. Every year I hear more talk of finding the “real meaning of Easter” in a series of lectures that rip apart secular traditions and blame the greeting card companies for making holidays so commercial. Let me give two examples to explain what I mean.

Example 1 (Christmas): When I was in first or second grade, I remember sitting in the middle of a Good News Club listening spellbound as my friend’s mother told us that when you switch up the letters in the word Santa- it spells SATAN. She went on to tell us that Satan had created Santa Claus as a way to distract us from the birth of Jesus. He was apparently evil incarnate. Under the guise of giving gifts he was really stealing life away from our souls and every time we sang "Jingle Bells" instead of "Away in a Manager" we were adding to the destruction of God’s holiness.
 
Now, I know she had good intentions.
She zealously yearned for the focus of Christmas to be on Christ instead of a folk story.

But here's the thing- originally, the story of St. Nicolas (the basis for the Santa tradition) was celebrated in a way that gave praise to God. This real man was a Christ figure to poverty-stricken children by giving them presents on Christmas. As a way to memorialize the symbol of hope, the story became an image of God's gift of redemption (who gave us Jesus). It is true that the meaning of this story has become trivialized and commercialized- but then again, so had Passover by the time Jesus came on the scene. He cleared out the Temple of a “den of thieves” that were profiting off of the traditions that had been handed down for generations. Perhaps we need not destroy a beautiful symbol by calling it a tool of Satan, but instead look for the truth behind the story?
 
Example 2 (Easter): If you look inside an Easter basket, you’ll see Cadbury Crème Eggs and Chocolate Bunnies and those incredible yellow, pink and blue Peeps- all pagan symbols of the Spring Festival of fertility and sexuality. In applying American Christian logic, one might say that by allowing these to creep into our celebration of Christ’s resurrection we have adulterated the true meaning of Easter and destroyed the whole point- Christ's power over death.

Read that line again: “power over death.” It is brimming with LIFE.

The whole idea of resurrection is LIFE! What better symbol do we have than the fertility and birth (as seen in Spring where the deadness of Winter bursts forth into new life) to explain what Jesus’ death and resurrection brings? Why should we hide these stories behind our backs when they truly point towards the person of Christ?

Our traditions are not bogus. We really do have a culture rich with symbolism and imagery. The problem is only when we forget about Christ in the midst. Symbols and traditions are small ways that God instructs us in praise. Only when we put our faith in a story or in a chocolate egg instead of allowing them to point toward the reality of Christ do we miss the point.

Do you remember the scene from Back To The Future Part III (yes, the one from the old west) where Marty and Doc are trying to figure out a way to get the Delorean Time Machine up to 88 mph without gasoline? Sometimes, I think our generation sees our own lives in a similar way- like we are stuck somewhere we do not want to be, spinning our tires and trying to figure out how to get out of the rut we are in without the resources to do it. Momentum is not easy to gain. The forces of physics are against us as we try to get going and make a difference in the world.

Over the past few weeks at Status, we have introduced some ordinary individuals who have taken hold of something extraordinary and run with it. Their stories have been entwined in movement and compassion and inspiration as they seek to do something that matters with their lives. Perhaps rethinking these stories will be catalysts that springboard you into making a move of your own.

To read more about the ongoing narratives we’ve heard over the past three weeks- check out these links:

To Write Love On Her Arms

To Write Love on Her Arms is a work in progress. This began with one broken girl, one painful night; addiction, depression, cutting. This is a glimpse at the five days that followed, a decision to love and to begin telling her true story.*

* words captured from: www.myspace.com/towriteloveonherarms

Invisible Children

Can a story change the world? In the spring of 2003, three young Americans traveled to Africa in search of such a story. What they found was a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them. A story where children are the weapons, and children are the victims.*

*words captured from: www.invisiblechildren.com

lowercase people

lowercase people is a daring new endeavor to revolutionize the way we view beauty, truth, and humanity. lowercase people’s… purpose is to serve third world communities around the world in partnership with Geneva Global.*

*words captured from: www.lowercasepeople.com

Origins Church

ORIGINS CHURCH is a progressive new community specifically designed for urban professionals, young families, and emerging artists seeking to live in the way of Jesus in the culture and context of New York City.*

*words captured from: www.originsnyc.com

*Also, Happy Birthday to my Brother. I love you man!

One of the ways that social justice was worked into the lives of Hebrew people in the Old Testament was through the idea of Sabbath. We generally find our definition for Sabbath in the book of Exodus where the concept is presented as a way that we reflect the character of God- as He created in six days and rested on the seventh, so we work for six and then rest.

But read what happens in Deuteronomy when the law is recounted to the people:

“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:13-15

These instructions turned the idea of rest into something much more important. It was not just a break from work. It was actually a weekly reminder that the people of Israel were delivered from oppression and slavery. They were to reflect God’s mercy by relieving oppression in all areas of the community around them. Their family needed relief. The servants and slaves working for them needed relief. The strangers among them who were had taken a place in the community needed relief. Even their animals (symbolically representing the entire environment) needed a break from the hardship of life. Sabbath created a habit of rhythmic social justice. It was an opportunity to continuously open the floodgates of justice, mercy, and humility to the world around them.

How desperately our generation needs to create a lifestyle of relief in our community. It is not enough to watch or read about other people who live in a way that removes the stain of tyranny from the world. We must actively participate in the healing redemption that comes in lifting the burden of oppression from others around us.

Romans 1:20
“[God’s] invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made...”

There are some things that are so big that words are not enough to describe them. They invite us sometimes to quiet speculation while other times causing us to burst out laughing or screaming or singing or crying. So it is with nature, with art, with romance, and with so many other things we encounter.

There is no way to do justice to ideas of this magnitude by wrapping words and formulas and cliché expressions around them. No amount of definition can fully explicate them in a way that allows us to appreciate them intimately. These things cannot be explained away with a simple answer; they must be experienced in order to be esteemed and acknowledged for what they are.

So it is with God.

Paul explains in the first chapter of Romans that humanity has seen God at work just as clearly in creation than any words on a page could express. “[God’s] invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” God has made Himself known to us through words and poems and flowers and trees and rain and architecture and traditions and a multitude of symbols so varying and diverse that we will spend the rest of our lives discovering and enjoying them.

I thank Eugene Peterson for bringing the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to my attention. His untitled poem is beginning to dance in my mind, unfolding the mysterious idea that God’s symbols of His love are all around us and in us and through us:


“As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame” by Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1918 (quoted in Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places Eugene H Peterson, 2005).

Ephesians 2:10
“…we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

When I don't have something to do, something to do will often find me. And it's not generally something productive. Whoever said “Idle hands are the devil’s playground” knew my heart to the core. In the same way, as a Christian, simply “not sinning” doesn't cut it. Without filling in my time with something in place of sin, I create a recipe for disaster. Sooner or later, the same old sinful habits (or ones equally as bad) will slip in and find their way back into my life.

If we want to find some hope in defeating our depravity, we've got to supplement our lives with something other than simply "not sinning."

This is why I think that it's encouraging that in Ephesians, Paul didn't write that we were created for sinlessness, but rather that we were created for good works. Good works take time and effort; they take our emotions and our heart. They fill up the space that sin previously occupied. Instead of looking at good works and social justice as a mandate that we work at in order to earn our salvation- I think it's better to assume that Jesus gives us these good works as something to do so we can battle the void of time that we used to spend in sin, and sinful thoughts.

John 5:6
“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’”

The Hebrew word “h[wXy” (transliterated Yesha`) means: “deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare”
a.    safety, welfare, prosperity
b.    salvation
c.    victory

Three analogies from movies I have seen joined with this Hebrew word for salvation and a story from the apostle John about Jesus’ interactions with a man in need of healing have prompted my thoughts to consider what we have done with our redemption.

In the movie At First Sight Val Kilmer portrays a character who is restored from a life of blindness when an operation gives him back his vision. In the aftermath, he realizes that sight is not as alluring as he had once hoped. He has become so accustom to relying on his hands instead of his eyes to tell him what objects are that he finds it very difficult to negotiate life as someone who sees. The story brings the line from Amazing Grace (“was blind, but now I see”) into a new perspective. Many of us may have been rescued from spiritual blindness only to be reborn into a world that is so different than the one that we were accustom to that we have a hard time understanding the landscape. Rather than learn to experience life with our sight restored, we stumble around with our eyes shut- never fully accepting what it means to be rescued from blindness.

A similar story can be seen in James Whitfield’s character, the old librarian prisoner Brooks, within the movie The Shawshank Redemption. After spending his life in prison, Brooks is finally released. But life within the prison walls immobilizes him when he enters the real world. Acclimation to punishment makes his liberty seem more like torture and he takes fatal measures to escape it. Our salvation from bondage can sometimes lead us into fear as well. We cling to our old habit patterns for dear life, hoping that no one will rip away the comfort of sin and force us out into the wide open spaces of God’s grace. It is almost as if we are cowering in death’s prison even after the walls have been broken down and we are free to go.

One final movie that shows glimpse of misused salvation is the story of an ex-leper in Monty Python’s Life of Brian. A spunky and healthy man approaches Brain to beg money from him. According to the man’s story, Jesus had healed him- taking away not only his leprosy, but also his “trade” (begging money). The man skips and hops along beside Brian with energy and charisma - fully cleansed of leprosy - but no better off than he was before he had been restored. His healing changed nothing about his life, for he continues panhandling instead of looking for new things to do with his strength. This scene strikes closest to my heart as I think about the times I have returned to an old manner of living because I am too lazy to do anything with the new life I have been offered.

In John 5:1-14, Jesus asks a man with a disability (who has been sitting by a mysterious pool of “healing water” for a very long time) if he wants to be healed. When the man agrees, Jesus tells him to do something; "Get up, take up your bed, and walk…" and later, “See, you are well! Sin no more…” Jesus never healed people in order to leave them where they were. He always gave instructions to do something with their healing and salvation. I think Jesus may ask us a similar question about our own salvation. Do we really want it? Are we going to do anything with our rescue? Are we going to be saved “to” something or are we simply content to stay were we are out of confusion, fear or apathy?

“Get up and walk,” He says to us. “Go and do something with your salvation.”

Mark 16:15
'Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."'

Jesus is continually in the process of pushing us from where we are into someplace new. The command to “go” is one that requires movement and interaction with the world around us. It means that we cannot remain where we are and expect the world to be drawn toward us. It means that we cannot simply market our community in such a way that other people are swept into our lives. It means that we cannot dwell in the subculture of Christianity if we want to be more like Christ.

The very first Christians were content at the beginning to stay within Jerusalem, preaching the gospel. It was not until persecution arose in the city that the early believers were scattered throughout the region and propelled toward the end of the earth. Later on in history, monks and priests hid themselves in monasteries to avoid being corrupted by the thoughts of the common people and common struggles against sin. Escape and retreat became a common way of life for a lot of church leadership. Eventually, through the means of a translated bible in common language, distributed to common people- Christianity was again forced out of the comfort of the monastery and into the lives of people.

Today, our struggle is not so different than the Christians before us. It is much easier to live our lives without fully engaging the world. Living around people who think the same way that we do and talk the same way we do, and never question the way we view God is very desirable. But it is not a way of life which meets in congruence with the instructions of Jesus. The only way for us to live His teaching is to become involved in the communities around us and with the people who are with us at work and school and on the highway and all over the whole of creation. Jesus did not ask us to stay where we are inside of our sacred spaces, and allow the world come to us. He asks us to “Go into all the world...”

James 1:27
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

When it comes to social justice, two problems in my own life burst to the forefront:

1. I like to think about problems instead of doing anything about them.
2. Personal experience in tragedy leaves me wondering about God’s goodness. (insert the prayers of Asaph who asked “Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His compassion? (Psalm 77)"

1. Personally, I would much rather talk about problems and sort them out in a discussion group than actually take part in social action. I tend to be academic in my understanding of life; thinking and pondering the whys and hows and wherefores of a situation instead of buckling down to do something about it. While it is true that there are some really hard philosophical quandaries involving why “bad things happen to good people,” I think we often use these dilemmas as an escape mechanism to avoid actually becoming a solution to the problems at hand. There comes a time when we need to stop worrying why an event happened and begin spending our energy meeting the needs of people who are hungry and homeless and broken and tired and ignored. To quote John: “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:18)”

2. The second problem (and this is much more philosophical in nature) deals with the question “where was God when __________ happened?” The root of this question lies mainly in our concern for whether or not God is good. In other words, I may have an intellectual understanding of God’s goodness, but the experience of tragedy seems to counteract this truth, leaving me wondering whether or not what I believe in my head is reality in fact.

Something that changed my perspective on this issue was when I began to see God’s goodness reflected in people. Although God’s attributes are not limited merely to this capacity, as beings created in His image, the kindness we show one another is a literal extension of God’s love for us. Peter reminds us that “whoever serves …serves by the strength that God supplies… (1 Peter 4:11)” And John reflects a similar message when he says that “We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)” As it turns out, the questions about God's goodness are answered as we allow Him to work through our own hands and feet to change the circumstances around us.

Genesis 1:26a, 27
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

When I was in elementary school, I thought I could make it rich by trading baseball cards. The only problem with my plan was that I had no idea who any of the players were and so I would inevitably give away all the really valuable cards in my collection in exchange for players that had interesting names and no talent to speak of. My crafty little friends tricked me again and again until I was left with filler cards that were worth nothing more than that cheap cardboard they were printed on.

I know nothing about baseball. And I think that many of us do not have a clue about who we are either.
 
"Eat this," said the serpent to Eve, "and you'll be like God." Eve stopped, looked at the tree and decided that being like God was an attractive offer. But how much more "like God" could she have been? Only two chapters earlier the writer of Genesis explained that "God created man in His own image." Eve was already a brilliant reflection of Him. There was nothing extra she needed to complete her.
 
With the advantage of hindsight, we all believe that we would have chosen right by God. But the truth is that we have just as many misunderstandings about who God is and how He created us. The only way for us to really understand who we are is by taking our eyes off of the images we have seen in this world and begin looking to the One in whose image we were created. Until we understand that God is the most beautiful, most excellent, most holy, most just, most magnificent, and most valuable thing in the span of existence we will be tempted to trade away His image for imitations that will never truly satisfy.

Matthew 25:34-36
"...Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

For lunch on Monday I spent $7 on baked potato soup and one of those mocha drinks from Panera Bread. While I ate, I listened to a few guys at the table next to mine complain about how disappointed they were in the new Everest ride at Disney and kept thinking to myself that the meal I was eating cost literally twenty times the amount many people in the world have to live on each day. Of course, I did my best to rationalize the purchase by reminding myself that I really would not be able to get a meal for much less than this in downtown Orlando- but no matter how much creative story-telling I described to condone my spending habits, the haunting reality came plunging back into my mind; I hardly ever give a thought to anything (or anyone) beyond the scope of my comfortable American way of life.

America has not always been so cynical about the world. But it is interesting to see how much we have forgotten since the late 1800's when Emma Lazarus described a vivid notion of looking out for the ones who were kicked to the side of the road and forgotten. "Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" *

This is the American Dream in its original form and it was a whole lot closer to concern Jesus would command us to have for other people on this earth. The call was a welcome to anyone on the planet in need of care and love and friendship. Although many of us have replaced this sense of care with a sense of consumerism- I do not think that we have drifted so far that we may not return to loving the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned. Let us rethink the way we live in regards to the world around us and begin to see more than our land of opportunity.

1 Corinthians 12:12
“Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”

As archaic as the word may sound to modernists who are troubled by the mysterious and at all times searching for a scientific explanation to express how we perceive the world, the idea of Trinity gives us a glimpse of God at a level where we understand that relationships are an important key to identifying with His heart. Since God reveals Himself to us in three distinct persons (Father, Son and Spirit) we know that if nothing else, there is relationship and interdependency in the Godhead. Perfectly defining fellowship and community, God is One and Three at the same moment; mysterious and beautiful. The harmony of God's relational nature is seen over and over through scripture as the distinct figures of His character dance and play in the story of redemption, emerging and creating and ascending and protecting and loving in perfectly orchestrated rhythms. And since we were made in His image - relationship must be pivotal to our identity as well. In fact, the very first words spoken by God about man were that "it is not good that the man should be alone... (Genesis 2:18)."

Becoming involved in community is the realm where we are able to experience life the way it was intended to be. When God creatively places us in relationship, we are given the occasion to reflect His image in a greater degree that we would otherwise do on our own. We find ourselves at our best when we are immersed in the lives of others; connected and dependent as we learn and grow and change to become more like the One who created us.

Hebrews 12:2
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

One of the first things to remember about the idea of “BECOMING” is that it forces us to take a good hard look at ourselves for who we really are. And in the end, if we feel only contentment in our existence and the life we are leading here on this planet then the natural choice is not change but rather stagnation. Without a motivation for revolution there would be no reason for transformation. And if we all felt this complete apathy about the current state of our lives and our situations, there would never be anything new undertaken or ideas pondered about what could be or should be or might be. We would exist and sit and never achieve anything more with the remainder our lives.

But this is not the way of the world. We know that discontentment is often more a prevalent in life than contentment. Worry almost always interrupts peace. Frustration often plagues our heart.

I love the word “BECOMING” because it takes our introspection and does not leave it in the midst of discontentment, but gives it an avenue to see opportunity and possibility. It is rich in imagination and hope as we dream of what God may have in store for us. It opens up our hearts to a world beyond ourselves and allows us to see God in a way that sets Him apart as different and intriguing. To become something new we take our eyes off of our own troubles, fixing them on someone Other than ourselves and running hard for the goal before us.

The risks of “BECOMING” are tremendous.

It takes an awful lot of faith to believe that God is good. It takes an awful lot of trust that He has amazing things in store for us. It takes an awful lot of hope in what He has promised. If we are to end the cycle of stagnation and apathy, we must begin this journey of trust and allow it to guide us into new discoveries that transform the community we live in; compelling others towards the newness of Life.

This year, take the risk and allow yourself to “BECOME.”

John 10:10
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

We are not seen by many as revolutionaries. In fact, the world expects very little of us.

We are seen only as resources of our employers and pawns of a global marketplace. We are bought and sold in the slavery of commerce by advertising and cultural trends. We are considered merely fresh meat for the job-force and new consumers to fuel the economy- a faceless generation of 20-somethings who will be swept away in the tide of clever marketing campaigns.

And honestly, there are times when I expect very little of myself either. It is not that I have low self-esteem or dislike who I am. It is just that I have been disappointed and frustrated by life so often that it seems pointless to move toward anymore than a mediocre life. Many of the people I work with feel the same way. Most of us feel like we are stuck in dead-end jobs which yield little excitement to daily living. We spend our days in the daily ritual of work, school, meals, the commute back and forth, and some sort of mind-numbing pursuit to cap out our day before bed (be it channel surfing, video games, or an evening spent peering into a drink). We so exhausted by the drudgery of this common life that we have no energy to dream and wonder and prepare for our future.

How different this seems from the “abundant life” Jesus speaks of in John’s account of His life.

We know that Jesus is the name-giver, the Rabbi-teacher, the truth-fulfiller, and the one who raises questions which challenge the very fabric of who we are. How then can we see the heart of life which He fought to bring to our subsistence and shrug it off as if it were meant for someone else?

As we draw nearer to Christmas, I want to tune out the media and the noise and the call of our consumerism and focus in on the reality of what Jesus’ life was poured out for. I want to follow Christ, and “grow in wisdom and knowledge and favor with God and man.”  I want to grasp hold of the truth that seeks to set me free from the confines of a second-rate life. I want to celebrate the birth of Him who gave me life, and let the joy of His coming seep into my soul and create the reality I was intended to live for!

Matthew 5:3-12
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

In the gospel accounts, each time Jesus interacts with someone the result is that the perspectives of the individual are challenged and the foundations of their values are shaken when placed against God’s truth. Jesus continually cuts to the heart of each person and reveals the true intention of His heart toward man.

Zacchaeus learned that God is generous. An adulterous woman learned that God forgives. The disciples were amazed over and over by Jesus’ decision to spend His time with children and invalids and widows and prostitutes in place of rubbing shoulders with men of influence who ruled the political and religious communities. Through it all, the hearts and minds of each person were changed as they become the things that they have learned.

What would it look like if the things that we believe about God and Jesus and the direction of our lives were flipped upside-down by insight from God Himself? How might Jesus turn the tables on our religious ideology and replaced it with a more accurate idea of who He is and what He wants to do in the community around us?

Revelation 2:17
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers... I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it."

I often find myself identifying with Simon Peter.

I want to be a rock. I want to stand unchangeable and without hesitation on what I believe about existence. I desire to trust in the abilities and promises God has given me without questioning whether I have what it takes. But instead of standing strong, I make rash decisions based on the opinions of people I do not even like very much. Instead of heralding truth, often I strive to make myself look better before my friends than I really am. Instead of relying on God’s voice to secure my identity, I seek the approval of men and I adjust who I am to meet the expectations I believe other people have of me.

"You are the rock," says Jesus to Simon.

The rock? Was this an accurate term for the shifting sand of Peter's life? Rocky, perhaps. Changeable, surely. Swayed by public opinion, obviously. In fact, there is hardly anything written in the gospel accounts of Peter's life that would point us toward giving the disciple such a name as this. Was Jesus thinking of someone else when He spoke to Peter? Did He have a moment of confusion?

It is more likely that Jesus was breathing into Peter the very thing that Peter desired the most- stability and strength. He desperately wanted to be the solid follower who stood up for what was right and trusted the strength of God completely. In a sense, Jesus' new name for him gave Peter the momentum to be the man he had always wanted to be; a man who would be used by the Spirit of God to lay the foundation of the Church and turn the entire Roman world upside-down.

Over and over in scripture men and women are given new names and new identities. They are unlikely candidates. Abram the wonderer becomes Abraham- the Father of many nations, Sarai the doubting princess becomes Sarah- the honored and noble woman. Jacob the cheater becomes Israel- the proof that God will prevail. How incredible that in his Revelation, John tells us that we also will receive a new name and a new identity through Christ. Paul agrees with his words to the Corinthian church: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).” Although we are still in the process of waiting for these new names, within each of our hearts God's Spirit groans for us to live in courage and experience life to the fullest. The new birth in Christ allows us to begin participating in the passionate pursuit that we were created for.

Romans 12:9
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."

Dating is an awful lot like summer camp.

If you grew up in the church, you know all about the camp experience. For a week, our normal lives were traded for a different place where every moment was planned and every mood was set and the distraction of the mall, and video games, and sitting around the house watching Real World reruns were exchanged for a week of solitude with a few hundred other Christian teenagers. The energy was high, the music was loud, and parents were nowhere to be found. And just when it seemed we could make it through the week without the "spiritual moment" the other kids were experiencing- along came 15 choruses of "I Cast All My Cares Upon You" and when the music took a climatic turn, the tears came rushing down our cheeks and someone had to give us their shoulder so that we could make it to the front of the room to rededicate our life for the 15th time; a decision that lasted a whole month before we were back to the same lifestyle we vowed to surrender.

"How in the world is dating like this?" You ask.

Well, unless you happen to live at the bar or the movie theater or Emeril's, I am fairly sure that the romantic outings you have been on were not part of the every day life you are accustom to. American culture has given us an unspoken rule that in order to date, we must remove ourselves from the natural environment we live in and plant ourselves in an unusual setting with different music, different food, and different clothes, spending money we do not have in order to create an evening around an imaginary world that does not exist. But if we expect to create an honest moment with another person, one that will give us a good idea of what the other person is all about, can we hope to accomplish this by taking away everything that makes us who we are? Do these dating rituals truly speak authentically of who we are, or will we resort back to our old wiles of ordinary living in a couple of months when the fresh new feeling of relationship has dissipated?

Superficial environments can often lead to superficial friendships. In my own experience, reality hardly ever matches up with the great expectations we build during the initial romance. I am not trying to suggest that we avoid pleasant times with another person. There is obviously much benefit to be gained from flowers and dinners and plays and go-karts and movies. Spending our time, money and energy on another person allows them to know that they important to us. But let us also learn to treat one another with honesty and sincerity, carefully removing anything that causes us to become more enamored with the environment we have created than person we are discovering.

Colossians 2:16-17
“…let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

There is something we find in disappointments that may be the key to discovering the truth about who God is and how things are supposed to be. Let’s be honest for a moment- Life is not fair. Romance is often temporary. Beauty is fleeting. Friends let us down. Because of my experiences, sometimes I expect that God is going to let me down, too.

However, the fact that we are disappointed when things do not go perfectly means that at some point we expected life to be perfect. Within each one of us there is a sentiment that Love does win and Romance is good and Beauty is valuable. When reality does not match up with these desires, we often give up, assuming that we were mistaken about how life should work. But instead of determining that our innate desires were wrong- perhaps these events should remind us that we are dealing with mere shadows that cannot completely reveal truth?

When the life makes a mockery of the truth, the frustration allows us to realize that these things we hold on earth are only temporary. They should point us toward what is to come; the truth of that we have not been made for this world alone.

In this way, we make an end of false expectations on things of this world and begin to allow the image of God to saturate all we see. The symbolism of life suddenly indwells our minds and we see God for who He is and creation takes its place as the forecast model instead of reality. Paul reminded the church at Colossi that rules and laws and festivals and all manners of life should not control us. They should be used to point us to Christ and the substance of His worth.

Matthew 13:44-46
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

I have a confession to make...
Last night, one of my friends called me and I was too busy messing around on the internet to take the time to talk with him. I was trying to multi-task and ended up brushing him off like he was nothing. The relationship should have been more important than a game, but I chose the easy route and missed the opportunity to invest in someone who has a lot of significance in my life.

We have not been given enough time on earth to mess around with futility. "What is your life?" asked James in his letter to early Christ-followers, "[we are only] a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Tomorrow may seem far away, but the future will be here before we expect, and the choices that we make today are the catalysts that will bring us there.

How much time could we free up in our schedule if we were able to wean away all the superfluous activities that lead to lethargy instead of accomplishment? How many pointless endeavors could we surrender in order to grasp the things of significance like Faith, Hope and Love?

The answer will cost us a lot more than we expect.

The very foundation of our lives will shake in the creation of a singular passion for the enduring things of God. Matthew was kind enough to record for us some parables Jesus taught about two men who were willing to give everything they owned for priceless treasure. He compared their singular vision for riches to the passion that is required to gain the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

1 Corinthians 7:17
“…let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him...”

We spend so much of our lives trying to plan out what we are going to do with the time we have. We dream and organize and save and spend and kick and scream until we have exhausted every resource to get what we want. And of course by the time we get it, we realize that what we really wanted was something completely different. It is strange existence of planning and preparing when our lives are shifted into a new direction in a matter of seconds.

A hurricane comes along or someone shows up late- breaks their promise. An injury occurs, a new friend is made, a ministry opportunity appears, a miracle happens, tragedy strikes, a death in the family brings us to our knees, an unplanned pregnancy causes us to reevaluate our priorities. The only sure thing in this world is change.

So, if we throw in every ounce of us, forming our identities around these dramatically unpredictable plans, why are we surprised that we no longer know who we are?

Maybe you are tired of continually having to fit into a new role? Maybe you are exhausted from looking for the quickest way to success? Or perhaps you are disappointed that your plans do not always match up with reality? Life moves too quickly to base our identities on the fleeting things of this world. Paul said it well when he advised that we no longer conform “to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our minds]...” (Romans 12:2).

If we base our identity on what we do it could be different every day, for creation is always changing around us. There is, however, One who does not shift or sway with the winds of change. There is one who did not get to be that way. He simply is who He is. “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). In fact, God’s very name- I AM tells us of His faithfulness to being Himself. He is the one person without an identity crisis. He does not go out of style or out of print. He is the foundation of existence, unmoving and unchanging. In the light of His nature, let us anchor ourselves to Him, for there we will find our identity and gain character that can be refined instead of reinvented.

Psalm 78:1-4

“Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”

The Hebrew people were continually building memorials all around Israel and the surrounding area to signify when something important had happened. Some were to celebrate a victory, others were alters of repentance, and still others were created to acknowledge a miracle that God had provided. They were constructed not only as a way to recall the past, but also to inspire the interest of others.

Some of these memorials are in the form of feast celebrations, such as Passover (which reminds us of God’s redemptive work in our lives). At a Passover Seder a few years ago, I noticed that a series of questions were asked by a child partaking of the meal. It is interesting to note that these questions and answers permeate much of Jewish culture. In the Bible, we find that the command to remember significant events is often because of the questions these memories will raise and the opportunity they will give us to begin conversations about God’s faithfulness. The events of life were not meant to be kept in hiding, but to be used instead as a tool for interaction.

Of course, not many of us truly desire our history to be on display before everyone. In fact, we would likely cringe at the thought of our past being broadcast for the world to see.

The poet Asaph knew that it is not natural to dig into the painful side of our experience. In Psalm 78, he reminds us that these dark events need to be brought out into the light along with everything else. As we share our struggles and defeats we begin to see that God is much bigger than the messes we have created; making beauty out of ashes and glory from rubble.

Every one of us has felt the hand of shame or hurt. Jesus too, wept. He shared in the hardships of life and the agony of tough decisions. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are… (Hebrews 4:15).” There is something mysterious about pain.  Somehow, it connects us with other people. Perhaps one of the victories we find in our recollection of the past is solidarity with others? Maybe suffering and guilt and stress are one of the bonds that join us with humanity and make us real to other people?

Romans 12:1

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

My favorite stories in the Old Testament often involve fire falling from heaven, consuming the sacrificial offering which the people have placed on an alter. There are a few different examples of this in the Old Testament, and every one of them is a time of worship. Worship, in its very nature, requires the consumption of sacrifice.

Sacrifice: the destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else (Merriam-Webster).

All of us are familiar with the idea of sacrificing for something we really want. We give up money for better computers or cars or clothes. We give up time for people we love. We don’t usually have a problem sacrificing these things because a car is more valuable to us than the paper that the money was printed on.

Why do we not see worship in the same way?

Paul urged the Roman Christ-followers to worship God by make their very lives an offering and sacrifice to God. He wanted them to be utterly consumed for the glory of God. But too often, instead of being consumed by worship, we end up consuming worship. We fall into the trap of wanting better songs or a better message or better writing to help us negotiate our relationship with God instead of putting everything we have on the line and becoming lost in His presence.

Historically, Christ-followers have engaged every one of their senses in worship through eating, moving, singing, dancing, speaking, listening, seeing, and creating to name a few. Eric Liddell, who was a missionary to China and an Olympic Athlete, expressed an interesting view on worship when his sister accused him of allowing his training to distract him from God’s call to the mission field. "I believe God made me for a purpose,” Replied Liddell, “but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure. To win is to honor Him." Liddell ran his Olympic race and his spiritual race in such a way as to win. It required everything of him, but the payoff was worth it.

Genesis 2:5-9a

“When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground-- then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.”

From the very beginning, God created the whole world the intent for it to grow and change and adapt too. The trees sprung up through the ground and the flowers had to extend their petals toward the sun. Even we were created with change in mind. Humanity grows and learns and expands in our knowledge of the world and of ourselves and of God.

But somewhere along the way, we decided that only perfection is acceptable (probably in middle school). For the Christian, our prayers must sound articulate, our clothes might have to be worn in a certain way, and we must be able to quote a certain amount of scripture, or even believe a certain thing about grace and mercy in order to be considered a “true Christ follower.”

In fact, when someone a little less apt to social skills enters our lives, we shy away because they do not seem to fit in. When a friend suddenly shares a wound that has not been fully healed, we become uncomfortable and criticize them for not “turning it over to God.” We hide our own failings and secretly fear that someone will uncover the truth that we have not already been perfected.

To some degree, I think we are so anxious for the end result that we miss out on the beauty of God’s work of creativity and growth. Instead of enjoying the glorious work of God’s hand shaping our lives, we criticize ourselves and others for their deficiencies. This cannot be the way God intended our lives to work; always wishing that He would just be finished with us instead of enjoying His touch and workmanship as He shapes us into how we are to be.

Last night, I was watching paint cover the canvass and colors and shapes begin to take form. Soon, a leaf and the clusters of grapes began to appear from crude lines. It was amazing to watch the creation. And though the end result was spectacular, for me, watching as it was created was even more incredible.

Isaiah 17:7-8 (The Message)

“…The Day is coming when people will notice The One who made them, take a long hard look at The Holy of Israel. They'll lose interest in all the stuff they've made--altars and monuments and rituals, their homemade, handmade religion--however impressive it is.”

My friend Jon and I were notorious for stealing the show. We would show up at birthday parties and soon those attending would forget who they were celebrating. We wanted the attention and had the charismatic personalities that would attract it all.

But I wonder; was quite as fun for the person who was supposed to be celebrated? Did we in fact betray our friend whom we came to celebrate by commandeering the event?

We often do the same by God. When we show up together we are distracted by pastors and leaders and friends and rituals and many other constructs of “worship” that 2,000 years of Christian Religion have generated. In the process, have we lost track of Jesus?

Many years ago, Isaiah spoke to a generation who had forgotten about God. They were more concerned with worshiping the rules and rituals of God than the God Himself. In the years since then, not much has changed. Many of us are more interested in the comfort of religious rituals and human mediators than God’s presence. We are more impressed with great communicators and well produced music than we are with the greatness of the One who made and inspired all these gifts.