The Road Goes Ever On and On

Man, the Glorious Ruin

Last post I shared my personal experience as a hybrid, a mix of good and evil.  I'd like to borrow from Francis Schaeffer and broaden that idea.  It was Schaeffer, by the way, who coined the title of this post.

Glorious ruin.  A very keen insight into human nature.  We are created in the image of God, lovingly designed and bestowed with gifts and powers similar to our creator, if not in extent.  But the gospel also points to our fallenness, our need of a savior.  We are ruined by sin, disconnected from our original intent and purpose, which is to know God, enjoy him forever, and reveal his glory. 

Instead of living for the glory of God, however, we live for number one, numero uno, me, myself and I.  Our selfishness separates us from God, each other and ultimately ourselves, for if we are living for our own pleasure and not God's pleasure, we rebel against our fundamental reason for being.   Fulfillment never comes from a steadfast focus on ourselves, even if it is a passionate desire for self-improvement.

Most of us focus on one half of our nature and ignore the other.  Some folks have low self-esteem, seeing only the ruin.  Others succumb to pride and see only their own glorious potential or current greatness.  Oh, we might piously speak about our faults, but if we truly face the extent of our sinfulness, it would be devastating, so we pretend it's all "under the blood."  But we are a mix of both good and evil, and denying one or the other is unwise.

God sees us just as we are and loves us dearly.  He knows our potential and greatness.  He also knows our ruin, the ugly side we desperately try to hide.  When we view ourselves as we really are, we can grieve our fallenness, and graciously accept God's grace.  We can accept our humanity and limitations and live honestly.  We embrace the fact that we can't live up to our full potential every day.  There are just too many variables, known and unknown, in our heart, emotions and world to live on top all the time.  But the love which envelopes us doesn't draw away in the presence of imperfection.  To the contrary, it is the needy cry of our hearts which draws God close to us, not our accomplishments.

But we can also humbly accept the compliments given when we do come through.  When I'm there for my kids, when I say or do just the right thing for my wife, I can feel good about being the husband and father God intended me to be.  But my worth doesn't depend on my performance.  So the flip side is that when I don't come through, when I'm tired, grouchy, or just plain selfish, it doesn't devastate a fragile ego because I'm not trying to maintain a fictional character, the perfect, awesome "Me."

So failure doesn't destroy us and accomplishments don't validate us.  We are glorious ruins, people with faults but also  great strength; in a word, hybrids.  The pressure is off.  We are free to be real people, that beautiful, volatile mix of all things human.  We can receive both correction and compliments, avoiding depression or pride.  We can succeed, we can fail, we can be known by God and others and mostly we can live and take risks because the father will never stop loving us. 

Life as a Hybrid

I read once about a family that adopted a hybrid dog.  It was half-dog and half-wolf.  The hybrid apparently made a great pet.  Until it attacked their son and killed him. 

Being a human being, and specifically a man, is a similar situation.  I'm not saying I'll go out and kill someone, but the seeds of murder do lie within my sin nature, and to deny that fact is arrogance.

Men are like the force; we all have a light side and a dark side.  Every day we choose the impulses to which we will listen and respond.  We have all experienced both the good side and dark side of masculine strength.  The good side is found in the policeman and fireman that put their lives on the line for our safety, or the good samaritan who stops to help us change a tire.  The bad side can be discovered in the abusive father, the cantankerous old man, or the Bernie Madoff shyster.  But the world isn't divided into good men and bad men.  As Solzhenitsyn once said, the line dividing good and evil is found in every human heart.

I will be a hybrid till the day I die.  What blows my mind is to see them operate at the same time.  For instance, I've been in situations where a young, single, attractive female is in genuine need of masculine strength and encouragement.  I've been able to step into a fatherly role and speak into her life.  While doing this, the wolf side of me whispers in my ear about taking advantage of her vulnerability.  The needy part of me that wants feminie attention would like to take this opportunity for self-gratification. In those instances, I choose to take life or give life.  Fortunately, by the grace of God and solid, intentional accountability, I haven't acted out on my dark side in those situations.  But the temptation is there.

I long for the day when the church will be more open to using and accepting men as they are, not the angels they wish we were.  Jesus attracted and discipled men, hybrids like me whom he redeemed and used for his kingdom. They could be real in his presence, and still accepted.  It's much easier to deny the dark side and pretend our churches have only perfect men and women with their lives all together.  But reality eventually bites. 

The Power of the Table

I've heard it said that most of the ministry Jesus did was on the streets.  That would be true; he taught in the synagoge, but most of his miralces were done in the marketplace.  If you look at how Jesus evangelized, however, another interesting trend emerges.

The gospel accounts show that Jesus did most of his evangelism in the homes of average people while sharing a meal.  This stands in stark contrast to our stadium-driven events complete with internationally known evangelist.  Are things just different nowadays, or can we learn from Jesus' example?

I think we can.  Here are a few points I take from Jesus' use of the table:

1. He had the potential to wow the crowds with all manner of signs and wonders, yet curiously chose not to. When he did miralces, it was because he was "moved with compassion."  He chose not to perform, but to engage.

2. Presumably, as God, he could have chosen to utilize speaking abilities bordering on the magical; if he can speak worlds into existence, certainly he can hypnotize human hearts with words.  Yet again, he chose not to.  He spoke and he listened.

3. Not only was his intervention in our world incarnational (i.e., he became one of us), his ministry was incarnational too.  In other words, he ministered in very human, ordinary ways, such as while sharing a meal.

4.When Jesus chose the table as his primary means of encountering people, he sanctified the partaking of meals and fellowship and made it holy.  Even our reunion with God in heaven will be a "marriage supper," again a very regular, human event.

5. Finally, if we as the church empower the ordinary, everyday saint in the pew to engage their neighbors this way, perhaps we can see more impact in lives and number beyond the loud, flashy, event driven experience that creates spectators and not individuals.

All this is just food for thought.  Not saying I'm right, but I'm just wondering if there might be a better way to engage people than some of the ways we've tried.  Thoughts, replies, snide remarks and amens welcome (just be civil please). 

The Preaching of Pixar

Sometimes the best sermons are not preached in church . .

My two oldest kids went to church camp this week, so I've been having some awesome time with my youngest son James.  Among other things, James asked to see the movie "UP."  Being a Dad who likes to say yes whenever he can, I agreed.  I'm more drawn to your action/adventure genre, so I wasn't necessarily pumped about seeing it, but I was more blown away by "UP" than any thriller I've ever seen.

I cried in the beginning montage and I cried at the end.  If you haven't seen it, you should.  I won't give away the plot (though by this time most of you who are going to see it have seen it), but here is what I will say: what a sermon!  If pastors in churches across the country could preach this good, the church would be bringing 'em in more than the local cinema 24.

I was never reminded so strongly of how powerful human relationships can be.  I for one tend to be drawn to the big, the flashy, the "important" stuff like position or accomplishments.  But as one of the quotes in the movie goes, "It's the boring stuff that's the best."  The little boy character was referring to the times spent with his dad doing nothing in particular.  God has lived in relationship as three persons throughout eternity, and we who are made in his image find our greatest significance in relationships too.  Everything else in life is temporary, but people are forever.  Sometimes I forget that.  "UP" reminded me that if I live my life without love, I'm nothing (I Corinthians 13).

By the way, if you don't believe sermons can come from outside church, check this out: 

One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones,
   and then passed the vineyard of a lout;
They were overgrown with weeds,
   thick with thistles, all the fences broken down.
I took a long look and pondered what I saw; 
   the fields preached me a sermon and I listened:
"A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
   sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
   with poverty as your permanent houseguest!"  Proverbs 24:30-34 (The Message)

I'll take God's word any way he wants to send it, whether it be through nature, Hollywood, a good novel or my wife and kids. 

Land of the Free

Yesterday I read something by Eugene Peterson (the guy who translated The Message) commenting about why he wrote one of his books.  In essence, he wrote the book (can't remember the title, sorry) as a pastor concerned about American Christianity.  His main idea was that those living in the land of the free and the home of the brave should have a bit more spontaneity in their lives.   Instead, we live very boring, secure, insulated lives.

I don't want to come across as a cultural critic, because I value security just like the next guy.  But you can't take all the variables out of life, nor should  you try.  That is where faith comes in.

As a man who is stepping over the threshold of middle age, I find myself bored in many ways.  Don't get me wrong; I don't want to hear that my wife has cancer or one of my kids has a meth addiction.  But does our demand to insulate ourselves from the messiness of life also insulate us from some of its blessings?  It can be like the couple who refuses to have kids because they fear bringing them into the world, they aren't sure they can afford them, or they just don't want to sacrifice a secure income. And then you miss out on one of life's greatest blessings, nurturing another human being to maturity. Yes it is messy, risky, and downright difficult.  But the payoff can be one of the greatest joys in human experience.

I want to live more like Jesus, who didn't have a place to lay his head, yet lived to the full, in dependence on his Father, bringing the coming Kingdom into the world now.

Modern life can confine and even imprison us in our security, simply because we don't want to take risks or mess with the challenges.  But I'm asking God to show me how to live with "responsible irresponsibility instead of irresponsible responsibility" (Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase).  I'm asking God to lead me from the secure slavery of Egypt into the unknown freedom of the promised land.

What I learned at Camp

The past two weeks have definitely been outside my normal routine.  We just got back from our annual vacation at Hilton Head, and the week before that I volunteered to be a speaker/counselor at a youth camp.  Although it is hard to get back to normal after either event, the camp definitely had a more profound impact.

Yes, vacations are nice, but when you are able to give  yourself away and see positive results, it can change your life.  I met so many wonderful kids at the  youth camp.  Don't let the media tell you that kids don't want anything to do with adults.  The hunger for adult approval and masculine attention were evident.  The pull I felt from kids to interact with them surprised me.  How could they want to include a bald, overweight, 42 year old father of three in their circle of relationships?  Yet they long for positive adult friendships.

I could tell so many stories, but I'll share just one.  A  young lady I'll call Arwen was a counselor at the camp. After I spoke Sunday morning, I was standing in the lunch line as Arwen was serving and began a friendly conversation.  Arwen is 19, less than half my age, but has a good head on her shoulders.  She is also strikingly beautiful and smart.  But as I got to know her, I felt a prompting and asked about her dad.  I could see the change in her countenance.

She lives in the deep south, and her dad took a job in the upper midwest.  She misses him.  When I asked about this further, I could see the pain as she wondered how her dad could leave her and her mother for months because he wanted to get out of debt.  It struck me like a hammer blow.

How could any father choose to leave a daughter like this?  Outside of military service, I can't really think of one.  I related to the dilemma because I've debated some serious moves to improve our financial situation.  My kids aren't even driving yet, and if Arwen, a high-school graduate, has a hard time understanding her dad's decision, how can I choose to leave my kids?  I prayed with Arwen and we talked further about dealing with anger, disappointment, your parent's struggling marriage and loving them even when they make decisions youdon't understand.  I wish it were a happy-ever-after ending, but I'm not sure what the future holds for Arwen and her family.

Life isn't easy, and unfortunately the decisions we make as parents and adults are extremely demanding.  But when it comes to pouring myself into my kids or into my career, my kids are going to get the lion's share of me.  I went to youth camp to pour into kids, but somehow God gave me more than I gave away.  Funny how he does that. 

You Just Don't Get Me

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" - Matthew 5:10

We have come to the end of the road.  Jesus, the original maverick (sorry, McCain), again pitches conventional wisdom on its head and ends not with "they lived happily ever after", but has to go and mention the "P" word, persecution.

The ending IS happy, in that we are now identified with God and His kingdom.  The unfortunate part is that those whose lives are not shaped by kingdom values will not understand us, even fear us and ultimately persecute us.

There are many reasons, and I won't claim to know them all.  Some may hate us because they have chosen at some point along the beatitudes road to leave it, and our lives convict them.  Others may be totally unfamiliar with the road, and persecute us because they do not understand our passion and love for God, that nothing else in this world can satisfy us.  Others simply want to rid the world of boundaries, including the ones we live within; our insistence that we are meant to live in loving obedience to the Father galls them.

The reasons are many and the bottom line is to not come unglued when persecution comes.  It will.  But at the end of the road, a kingdom without walls or ceiling, a kingdom without boundaries, a kingdom infused with the presence of our beloved is ours.  Will we suffer in the short term for this?

The Family Business

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be sons of God" - Matthew 5:9

Near the end of the beatitudes, we come to the end of a long journey.  From acknowledging our poverty before God, we finally arrive at a place where we resemble Him.  After going through the process, we do the work of the Father.

Notice we aren't known primarily as peaceful; we make peace in the world.  That takes guts.  UN Peacekeepers don't usually do tours of duty in the Bahamas, they travel to war zones and make peace. 

As peacemakers, our lives reflect the heart of our Father God who gave everything to bring shalom (wholeness, peace, and well-being) to our lives.  We walk as Jesus walked, inviting others to walk the same journey we are traveling.  As we walk, we are still destitute on our own, we still mourn, we suffer, we hunger and thirst, but ultimately we are involved in the family business, i.e., seeing people made whole in a loving relationship to their Father.

The primary example of Jesus was a life lived in total obedience to the Father.  At the end of the beatitudes road, our lives will be known by the same characteristic.  The result is peace within and the ability to share it with others by our living example.

 

Purity = Focus

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

When I was growing up, the common interpretation of this verse would have a lot to do with your outward appearance.  Hairstyle and clothes for the men generally made you look like a narcotics agent.  Things were more strict for the women; you had to look like your husband's mother in order to reflect purity; that meant prairie dresses past the knee and your hair bunched on top of your head in what was called a "beehive."  Not only your appearance, but your conversation, interests and pursuits had to strictly adhere with approved "Christian" topics.  It made for a very plain, vanilla, and to a kid, a very boring culture.  I don't want to stereotype or make caricatures out of some very loving, giving, and yes, holy people; there are also good memories of a vibrant church community, but the  legalism left a bitter aftertaste. 

Holiness, or purity, had a lot to do with how you presented yourself in accordance with the approved conservative agenda.  How pointless it all seems now.  Jesus's words to the pharisees, that outside they were nicely tended gravesites, but inside full of dead men's bones is most revealing.  Purity doesn't have a lot to do with your appearance; it is all about the heart.

And purity here seems to mean focus.  Is God your one and only hope?  Or do you trust in a lot of things to make life work, like income, career, possessions, etc.?  By the time a person has walked through the beatitudes and arrived here, they realize nothing in themselves makes them acceptable to God.  They have given up and mourned the loss of finding fulfillment in anything other than  God, and he is the focus of their life.  And that pretty much defines  purity of heart; there isn't room for much else in the passions of your heart than for God alone. 

It isn't a legalistic decision, that in order to find God you must forsake everything else.  No, it is more of a desperate cry of the heart, that nothing else satisfies, so those things do not dictate the course of your life.  Instead of holiness from the outside in, trying to look holy in order to be holy, it is from the inside out; your purity of heart dictates the course of your life.  And when your life asks, seeks and knocks for God, you are given the promise that you will find him (Matthew 7:7).

Mercy and the Upwardly Mobile

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Jesus seems to be saying that it is important to show mercy because you are definitely going to need it one day.  But mercy doesn't seem to be very popular right now.  We live in the spin zone, where everyone tries to impress everyone else.  I find this especially true in the coporate world, and sadly, in the church world too.  If you want a job in a falling economy, you are competing with thousands if not tens of thousands of others.  The pressure to appear super-human or perhaps even as a demi-god of organizational genius is tremendous.  If you have the slightest flaw, well, we can find someone apparently flawless.  And don't even think about putting anything honest or personal on facebook or twitter; the corporate world is watching.  Talk about living in glass houses.

A near cousin of corporate perfection is christian perfection.  For heaven's sake, don't let anyone see your flaws, especially if you are a pastor or church leader!  Don't let people get too close, or the cracks will show.  Hire only the best qualified, Christ-like saints available.  At the slightest whiff of carnality or humanity, call the next candidate. Once hired, If they disappoint or reach their potential prematurely, let them go.  We can't waste time fooling with second-string workers, the harvest is plentiful now.  Oh yes, the church can be just as merciless as the cubicle.

But if you look at Jesus discipling a band of tax collectors, fishermen and blue-collar workers to be his leaders, it makes an amazing contrast.  Look as Jesus patiently takes a towel and washes the disciples' feet after they argued over "who is the greatest."  Look at them failing Jesus in the hour of his greatest need at Gethsemane, yet they go on to lead his church.  See Jesus as he gently restores Peter to productive ministry after his denial.  When Jesus made disciples, it was merciful, time-consuming, grossly inefficient and messy.  And  I thank God for mentors who like Jesus and had enough mercy to deal with my mess too.  Somehow they understood that people are more important to the kingdom than the church's vision statement.

I believe that when God's people create an atmosphere of mercy in his church, it presents one of the most beautiful and inviting witnesses of the gospel on the planet.  And it brings God's kingdom to earth like nothing else.  The world is starving for mercy.  Let's share it!