Thoughts

Good. Bad. Redeemed. (pt 1)

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We have all heard it before – the familiar tune of a spoken defense of humanity’s attempt to live out its days without complete fault. Even we have fallen victim to its enticing tongue that whispers, “people are mostly good.”

It’s is strange that most often hold this thought captive when we desire to value life – often choosing to trust someone when others might be less willing. Some might hope beyond reason that people are capable of change, believing a cosmic force to relinquish wrath for the sake of the good left among the earth-dwellers.

I have wished it myself a countless number of times. Yet the perfect Word of God speaks clearly on the subject.

  • “There is no one righteous. No, not one.” Romans 3:10
  • “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

It is not without hope one subscribes to such a sentiment. Believing we are essentially good takes considerable faith — only in the wrong Being. When man and woman were carved from the flesh of the earth, there was a glimpse of humanity’s perfect reflection of the Creator. For a breath of a moment, we were good. In fact, all things were good.

It is in that reflection – that we are made in his Image – that we hold any glimmer of goodness. It is something that God still sees when he looks at broken mirrors, a likeness to himself. Something akin to good-ish-ness.  Still marred by the stain of sin, yet reminiscent of the Garden.

Unfortunately this is not what makes God “like us” or even “save us”. Since it no longer possesses holiness, that marred image of divinity is worthless. The choice(s) of Adam and Eve to disobey the Creator in the Garden (Gen 3) has been passed into all and thus whatever good remains has also been spliced into the Bad.

(to be continued.)

Why “not a corner”

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My story in faith includes many of the typical facets of discovery, rebellion, apathy, obedience, courage and doubt. I do not downplay any of these moments – for they are deeply rooted in the trials and explorations of a rich relationship with God.  Yet these glimpses do not capture the magnitude of the greater calling of my heart.

Over the years I have discovered the most confusing thing about being a Christian is the way we try to manage the person of Christ in day-to-day, week-to-week realities.  To many, he is a story or someone to think about for a few hours a week.  Often he is someone who embodies the guilt trips and voices that clamour – “why don’t you pray more?” or “why don’t you give more money away?”

buddy-cornerI have found in both study and in experience that the story of Christ is more than a category to be filed into our emotional file cabinet.  Or another way of looking at it – he isn’t given a corner of my room, (like Buddy sitting awkwardly in Walter Hobbs’ office).  He is not a roommate to divvy up space with – he is the Sovereign and Supreme ruler of all things.  He is Judge, He is Beginning and End.  He is everlasting.  He is love.  He is Lord.

This became clear to me when Brennan Manning quoted Dorothy Sayers in Lion and Lamb: The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.  Sayers wrote:

The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore – on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him ‘meek and mile,’ and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.

The stunning realization of my ridiculous attempt to “pare the claws of the Lion” floored me.   It is as though a stony heart within me begins to cry out. One cannot make declarations of Lordship without yielding every part of yourself to Christ.  And yet we try.  Many make it through an entire lifetime thinking that we gave God “enough”.  But is that the calling into spiritual adoption?  Is that what the faithful live for?  Is that what I want to live for?

I am not saying this has been fully implemented in my spiritual life.  I am saying this is my daily endeavor: to give God everything.  To live fully for his glory and fame.  To belong to the Spirit’s ebb and flow while being used as a weapon to pierce the darkness however he sees fit.

A vision for the Church

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When I was 13, a friend and I rode our bikes from our neighborhood to the nearby store for some snacks.  We were rounding the corner back after crossing a bridge and I had just finished downing my 20oz. Mountain Dew.  Having no where to put the bottle and seeing no need to hold an empty container, I tossed it into the woods.  Seconds later, a park ranger and his truck cut me off and pulled me over.  After giving me a short lecture on littering, he had me hunt down the green plastic symbol of my foolishness.

For years, that’s how I saw God.  Watching always.  Jumping into the scene to mess with us.  Then disappearing for days and years upon end.  That view of God was nightmarish.  It’s oddly petty and diminutive.  It’s a picture of God who occupies occasional moments and not a forever-captivating, unstoppable, engaged, personal force.

The God we meet in Scripture…and the God I have known since I was 15, is not satisfied with a pie-charted slice of my heart.  No, he wants more than a corner.  He wants followers who chase down his restorative peace (shalom), who stand up for those who are too weak to stand themselves, to sit at his feet and be his, and through every part of life proclaim his unique and powerful Name to the world.

This is the dream he has for us.  This is what the Church could be.

When fears are stilled

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Have you been to the movies lately? My guess is that most of you have. There are a lot of good films out right now and it would be a shame to miss them on the big screen. So far within the New Year I have seen a wide variety of flicks from Frozen to Captain America and even God’s Not Dead (of which I recommend to students).  All of them have been good, but as I was reflecting on the sum of them I realized that they all encompassed prominent themes of fear.

So naturally I start to wonder the logic that Hollywood uses to determine a “best seller” for an audience that is largely made up of our generation because we aren’t parents and will pay to see the movies twice. Or perhaps they look at our larger national or cultural trends and choices.

Perhaps they aren’t saying that we’re a fearful society, but I do think we are a generation who needs to understand what we fear and more importantly what to do with it.
Yesterday I had the privilege of sitting in on a live Google chat with other college ministry directors across the nation.One of them was conveying a common struggle among his students was a constant fear of failure that was keeping them from reaching their full potential. Whether or not this is true nationwide, I think everyone has something they are afraid of. It is not much a question of if we fear, but when. Fear in its self is not a bad thing, but when it works hand in hand with lies it will cripple us every time. This leads to my next point, that we have an enemy looking to bring us down. If Satan is mindful of are fears and how to use them, don’t you think you should as well?  We will not be doing ourselves any favors either when we think we can handle them on our own and belittle them from what they really are, because when it comes down to it we are not meant to do this life alone.

I don’t know why, but I feel that God wants you all to know that whatever it is He’s got it. You have no need to fear. He has so many wonderful gifts in this life just waiting for you, but you must be brave and make him first. Let’s not be a fearful generation because we aren’t recognizing them, don’t know how to deal with it or worse are just too lazy. Let’s be the generation that leans into a loving God, boldly claiming every promise he has given us and live into everything He has for us to become.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalms 23:4

Stretched

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Building 429′s anthem on the radio proclaims, “we won’t be shaken” and declares a hopeful heart that we can take whatever this world throws at us.  It’s true.  Absolutely true… that God has given us a powerful women against the domineering assault of stress and pain.  Through his help and presence we are cared even when it doesn’t feel like we’ve got the stuff to take it.  The psalmist declares this too:

Cast your troubles upon the Eternal; His care is unceasing! He will not allow His righteous to be shaken. Psalm 55:22 (The Voice)

This important truth might just save you today…or tomorrow.

But consider too that God knows what tensions you live in.  You don’t have to pretend like the small stuff you’re sweating is irrelevant to Him.  He cares.  And He holds you through it.  Nancy Ortberg describes this tension in her book to leaders, Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands, and her suggestion (among many) is to know that some tensions are meant to be lived in…and managed.  Picture the rubber band: in it’s unstretched state it holds nothing.  When it’s stretched it finds it’s healthy purpose.  Stretch too much and…SNAP!!!  So we like the rubber band find what tensions we must manage.

Ongoing stresses of course are unhelpful and described by smarter people than me as damaging to your brain and health.  And by all means, resist the enemy’s temptation to sit in worry and frustration.  Just remember that the way we trust God…with the big stuff and the small…is learning how to used best and confident in His all-sufficient strength.

Brave

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It was my New Year’s resolution last year to start a blog for my journey of discovering how to be braver. Sadly, like many of our New Year’s resolutions, it has yet to be fulfilled. To be honest I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to speak as an expert in this exploration because bravery requires more than I realized at the start of this personal chapter. In the last four years God has challenged my trembling heart to be brave. I thought He was asking me to take charge of my life, but what I have discovered is that he was asking me to get down on my knees to take charge of my faith.

Let’s be honest, being a Christian is not for the faint of heart. When you really look at what Jesus continually asks us to pursue in our walk with Him it always comes back to relationship. As I had mentioned in my last Thursday Thought, God has challenged me to give up much, because the more we draw closer to Him in relationship, the more we have to give something else up. This is true for all of our healthy relationships, but following God will require us at some point in our lives to give up everything. This would be devastating if He was an evil dictator, but He’s not. Our loving Heavenly Father wants us to trust Him with everything, holding loosely to all that is seen for the greater understanding that we are residents of Heaven belonging to Him in all that is unseen. He will never ask us to give up something that He in turn will not restore with something better. Even so, my heart must choose to be brave.

So as we start this New Year afresh, my question to leave with you and myself is, Are you willing to be brave? Will you surround yourself with the support you need to build up your faith and trust the One who is so present and yet unseen? Let’s boldly let go of things that hold us back from claiming what is truly ours in Christ. Resolve to belong to Him, not your schedule, grades, anxiety, etc, have faith and be brave.

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7

[I am so excited to share the journey with you.Click the picture and let the song inspire some motivation.]

Repurposed

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saulThis past Sunday, Bill Robinson recently spoke to our church about a truth that often gets overlooked — especially when we get too caught up in our shortcomings and failures.  The author ofIncarnate Leadership said that when Christ interrupted Saul(before he was Paul) on the road to Damascus, he saw and chosea zealous, persistent, obedient, academic servant-leader.  Saul of course had a reputation for the violent religious persecution of those belonging to the new movement of Christ, called “The Way,” and it’s clear that Christians were fearful of him (Acts 9:13).

Saul was “re-purposed” for God’s purposes.

I love this.  I love that God doesn’t see all the stuff-about-me as counterproductive to his plans.  I love that he sees me.  He chooses me.   Think about that… sure there is a bunch of baggage (poor decisions, moral failure, …straight-up-sin) attached to our story.  But it doesn’t deter Him.  He sees what is good and bad and chooses to give us HIS SON and HIS LIFE!  (…you hear it, right?  Real life in Jesus Christ!)

So today…take a breath and hear his voice calling out to you.

My child, I have great plans for you.  I made you and I delight in the ways you are unique, strong and gifted.  I’m joining you in your day so that together we can bring my light to your campus…and this world I love.  Will you join me?   

Not about the “Nail”

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438313505_6404408bbe7954eIf you haven’t already seen the YouTube clip “It’s not about the nail,” you should humor me by taking a few minutes to watch it. This past week it seems the reoccurring theme of sin has been the topic of different discussions I have had with others and with God. Be it about temptations, having enemies or the fall of man, they have all led me back to the problem of sin. It’s a topic no one wants to talk about and everyone can relate with.  In his book “The Me I Want to Be,” John Ortberg presents the idea that our temptations are unique to each of us much like our finger prints are each our own. If this is true, then you could argue that our sin is too.

For myself I have discovered that much of the sin I have been stumbling around in lately comes from a temptation that speaks to a deeper longing I am looking to fulfill with misguided judgment. Just like Eve in the Garden, we can often find ourselves deceived by taking that which looks fulfilling and good for gaining wisdom, only to receive the shame and guilt from our sin. It can become the never ending cycle of bondage that keeps us from living life more abundantly in Christ. We will never know that kind of freedom if we don’t seek the love and forgiveness He gives us in dealing with our sin, and remind ourselves that He is the only one who can satisfy our deeper longing that brought us to that point in first place.

This is where the video clip comes in, because much like the woman with the nail in her head, I will sometimes sit in denial and tell God that my sin is not the problem. I come to Him with all the grief and misery resulting from my sin and argue that all I need from Him is His understanding, which thankfully He gives, but arguably that’s not really what I need. Instead I ought to receive His forgiveness and allow Him to pluck the nail from my head.

What is the nail in your head? The unfulfilled longings you’re trying to fill on your own?  Are you able to recognize your sin and allow God to take it from you? There is grace and freedom to be had in the asking. Let Him remove it and love you in this way.

Jealous

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funny-kids-boy-and-girl-kissing-while-other-girl-gets-angryMany times in scripture we read that God is “jealous” for his people.  Strangely to our ears, jealousy is bad. It’s true. Any time that a person is jealous, it’s usually never good.  So why can God be jealous? Surely there are attitudes and behaviors that God reserves for himself alone (ie. wrath, atonement, judgment).  Yet his revealed demeanor usually indicates something true for his people;  something we can absorb into our grace-repairing hearts.

God’s has tremendous passion for his people. In his character he loves and orchestrates heaven and earth to bring people closer to himself.  Jealousy then is his character opposing any other passion that comes in between us and God.  It speaks of the intimacy that he longs for and the absolute best that he has in mind for us.  If a human could muster this kind of desire, it would absolutely be holy and in accordance to his will.

In fact, this is exactly what the venerated prophets of old experienced.  As God’s spokespeople and covenant enforcers/renewers, they longed to see Israel break up with other gods and return to the One True Jehovah.  It was painfully difficult for every one of them.  Even Elijah – one of the greatest – begged God to take his life because he couldn’t sway God’s beloved back (1 Kings 19…you gotta read this!).

So imagine how this very intense and real emotion grips God’s heart.  Imagine how it moved him toward seemingly reckless behavior in allowing his only begotten son to die.  Imagine that very heart – in that very son.  Such a great desire was lifted upon that cross that you and I can only respond in blessed awe.

And so we return to Him.  For he is jealous for you.  For me.  And his love has moved heaven and earth to reach us and bring us back.  What a great God…that teaches us how to be jealous for the only thing we could ever be jealous for… to be his again!

[inspired by “How He Loves” and the opening line…”He is jealous for me.”]

4 years

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I recently saw a promo for Salem College and it asked, “How will I change the world?”  The response was “I don’t know.  But I know where I will begin.”  Do you ever stop to think about where you began?

4 years ago I stepped in as Director for Emmaus.  Over the years I have been able to make and cherish relationships with so many of you.  I knew little of rolling the quad (your own quad!?!), or of Salem traditions, or Shag-on-the-what-now?  But I learned from each of you.  And I learned with you.  For graduating seniors, this is an especially tender moment as I can recall moments from your first days to laughing and celebrating with you in these final months at school.

We can’t possibly know what these years at college will do in us when we first arrive.  4 years ago, I was trying to figure out how I could possibly learn all your names.  4 years ago, you were probably thinking “Wooohoooo!  College!!!”  And that probably became “I can’t wait to be done!”  And now I’m sure there’s a new thought: “I’m not ready to leave!”

Student, you aren’t meant to tarry too long in these formative years (sniff, sniff).  Instead you are meant to capture every ounce of insight, companionship, joy, the occasional sports victory, the late night milkshake runs, romantic crushes and career preparation as well as the mistakes we learned from and the desire to grow as pilgrims on the journey.  We at Emmaus have done our part to prepare you but the road ahead is one Christ — the pioneer and perfecter of faith — is eager to meet you on.  And that’s really where you begin… and why we will rejoice when we think of you.