An Adventure, Not A Safety-Net

I heard a really good question this morning. "If being a Christian doesn't solve all my problems and make my life perfect, why would I want to be one?" First, this is a good observation. As much as the faith is sometimes marketed as nothing more than a quick fix for what ails you, that's not what it was for the first Jesus followers. Many of them faced unbelievable hardships while staying true to their commitment to Jesus.

Second, though, what is our motivation? Jesus does offer the relationship for which we are designed. All that separates us from God is forgiven and erased, and we look to an eternity with God. We get the strength and encouragement to deal with the ups and downs of life, anchored in the One who died and rose for us. All of this is true.

There's another motivation, though, that gets overlooked. We get to be a part of the adventure of a lifetime! I believe God has placed a hunger in us for quest, challenge, and epic journeys. Unfortunately, we've domesticated all that. We too often decide that the goal of life is sheltered safety, and we've boxed in and redefined faith in Jesus to support that. However, ours is a tale of great adventurers and risk-takers, from Paul to St. Francis of Assisi, to Martin Luther, to John Wesley, to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and more. Following Jesus is not about safety. It's about joining God in the adventure of a lifetime - the battle for the heart and soul of humanity.

What adventure will you and I pursue for and with God in 2011?

(Recommended reading on this, especially for men: Wild at Heart and Waking the Dead - both by John Eldridge, and The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus)

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

The Permanence of Change

I think I've posted something like this before, but indulge an aging guy's wandering mind...

Some people believe that permanence is the core of reality. Human beings need to seek and depend on those things that do not change. A rock will always be a rock. (We even use the word "rock" as a metaphor for that which stands firm and never changes.) In such thinking, life's goal is stasis or equilibrium - maintaining that which is or should be immutable in the midst of flux. This is how traditions come to matter as much as they do. Certainly the quality of life depends on seeing permanence as the foundation and goal of life - to a point.

However, the more I learn and experience, the more I realize that permanence isn't the core of life at all. Change is the core of reality. The rock is only permanent in our limited view. It is being smoothed and turned slowly into sand even as we speak. Atomic science helped us see that solid matter isn't the foundation of the universe. Atomic particles in constant motion in fields of energy make up what we perceive to be solid and unchangeable.

This latter view, true as I believe it to be, scares most people. I find it unsettling as well, and beyond my ability to comprehend or control. However, the reality of constant flux can lead us in one of two directions. It can take us to despair, realizing that nothing is permanent and unchangeable, including us. Or it can lead us to seek that which is beyond all of it, yet present, active, passionate, and real in the midst of constant change. And in this seeking, we can come to realize that we are sought by this One who is constant when nothing else is - God, revealed fully to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

I choose the latter. What about you? I'll see you around the next bend in the river. (A kayak is finally close - maybe by the end of January.)