Monday, November 22, 2010

Getting it Right or Loving Fully?

And here comes the holidays season again...a fun and meaningful time. Yet it can also be a stressful time for many people. For folks who have trouble making financial ends meet, the constant December advertising demand to "buy, buy, buy," accentuates what they will NOT be able to do on Christmas morning. For people going through life pains, such as loss, death of a loved one, divorce, critical illness, or terminal illness, the constant pressure to "be merry" just adds guilt to already broken hearts.

But what of us who are not facing these things, but still make the month of December the most pressured, stressful month of the year? In part I think it is because we are so driven to get the holidays right - to have the right parties, to put up the right decorations, to send cards or e-greetings to the right people, to make the right meals, to have the right family gatherings, to observe the right traditions, etc. etc.

There's nothing wrong with "getting it right." There's everything right with it. The problem comes when "getting it right" becomes the goal instead of the means. The object of Christmas isn't to "get it right." There's no "getting it right" at Christmas on our part. God already got it right, becoming one of us in a baby born to a poor couple out on the road. "Getting it right" in the last month of the year or at any time of the year is not about our endless Christmas season "to-do" lists. It's in people seeing the Bethlehem baby so alive and at work in us that they also know that this same God loves them to. Everything else either supports this aim or works against it.

Not an easy thing in this busy, pressured time of the year. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Blindingly Simple

Sometimes God reminds me that it is just so blindingly simple.

Acknowledged or not, the goal of all groups of Jesus-followers (churches) is to make disciples for Jesus. (In our Bible this command is found in the 19th verse of Matthew's 28th chapter.) Being a disciple doesn't just mean someone who learns certain things, believes certain things, and practices certain things. A disciple is one who becomes like the teacher. So, as Jesus lived, died, and rose to something new, so we are to become like that.

The vast majority of organized churches in North America are static or declining. Bluntly, they are not making new disciples, and thus not obeying the command of the very one whose name they claim. To the credit of many, they recognize this and attempt a variety of strategies to turn the tide. Outreach programs, worship services more sensitive to newcomers, marketing campaigns, staffing for growth, and other complex efforts have been added to the arsenal of many congregations. All of this is good, as it shows that many church folks recognize the crisis and want to do something about it.

However, we must be careful not to over-complicate the matter. Jesus didn't do so. As recorded in John's account of Jesus, in his 13th chapter (35th verse) Jesus said simply this: The way I have loved you, that's how you should love each other. When you do that, people will know that you are my disciples. Norman Shawchuck put it this way: "O my God, I long to reflect your image throughout the world so that others might observe your doing in me and themselves be convinced that you love them also."

As Jesus loves people as they are, stands with them as they become what God wants them to be, sacrifices even to the point of death that they may have life...that's when people will see and know.

It's not as much a matter of technique as it is a matter of heart. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Monday, November 8, 2010

30 Days to Live: LIVE BOLDLY!

What would I do if I only had 30 days to live? First, I would live boldly. This might mean that I would do things I always wanted to do, but didn't have the time, resources, or gumption. I would go deep sea fishing. My wife and I would finally get that trip to the Canadian Rockies. I would kayak from the headwaters of the Current River to the Gulf of Mexico, or something like that.

More than this, though, I would live boldly what I believe. Too often we hesitate to act with assertiveness and courage because we're afraid of the cost: I might lose friends. I might lose financial assets. I might lose position and prestige. My actions might not be popular. I remember a time in my childhood when I saw a child of another race being picked-on and demeaned in our church's Sunday School. I knew it was wrong, especially in the house of God, but I didn't do anything to stop it. Maybe I was afraid of the bullies, maybe I didn't want to get involved, or maybe I just didn't care enough. I remember that event, though, and I still have remorse about that 50 years later.

As a follower of Jesus I'm expected to act as though my time is limited. More than that, those who are outsiders, outcasts, or just living far from God have limited time as well. I am expected to act with the urgency that having only 30 days to live would bring?

What would you do with only 30 days left? How would you live boldly? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Hell As a Motivator

Occasionally people ask me why I don't preach and teach about hell more than I do. I take very seriously the danger of an eternity separated from God. I believe and I proclaim that there's nothing we can do of our own effort to avoid what John Wesley referred to as "the wrath to come." By our own pride and idolatry, we are the architects of our own peril. Designed for the primary purpose of bonding with God and each other, we consistently act as though we are the potter rather than the clay. Leaders in my denominational tradition tend to soft-peddle the reality of a heaven to gain and hell to avoid. I'm aware of the danger in that, and I admit that I am part of that tendency.

However, faith motivated by fear alone stands on shaky ground. This week a wise friend of mine observed that way too much in life, including life in relationship with Jesus (God with us), is driven by fear. Fear divides and entrenches. It breeds self-preservation and suspicion. We are told that God's love, which is perfect love, casts out fear. I believe that a stronger basis of faith is coming to God because of what we are moving toward, rather than do so only because of what we will avoid. It should be, "a response to the one who claims each one of us, not because we deserve it, but simply because we are cherished." (Grace Adolphson Brame) Love builds a stronger faith than does fear.

Just my thoughts for the day. Next post: What I would do with 30 days to live: LIVE BOLDLY! I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Thirty Days to Live

What would you do if you knew you only had thirty days left to live? No cures, no reprieves - thirty days, period.

In my line of work, I see many people who are near the end of this life. I have yet to hear people say things like, "Man, I wish I had more time to work harder." "I'm going to spend these thirty days making as much money as I can." "I'm going to buy the biggest house possible in which to spend this last month." In most cases, they don't talk about stuff, or achievements, or recognition, or accomplishments. Mostly, they talk about people. They make peace where they can. They say things they've never had the courage to say. They talk about love. In short, they realize what was really supposed to matter all along.

What would it be like if we all spent the next month living like we knew we were going to die at the end of it? How would that shift our priorities? How would we be different? How would our country be different? How would a church be different?

Being one who keeps an eye on Jesus of Nazareth, I noticed the record of the last 5-7 days of his life. (In a Bible it will be in the 11th and 12th chapter of the book of Mark.) Here's what he did with his last days: He lived boldly. He left much. He loved fully. More on this in upcoming posts...

Why would we have to actually be short-timers to do this? Why don't we live as if we only had 30 days all the time? What's stopping us?

What would you do if you only had 30 days to live? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.