One Simple Aim

Life becomes much more manageable for me when I simplify my priorities.  Over the past few months, I have been finding my way toward one simple aim (really two in one):  To please Him and to find pleasure in Him.  To simplify all of my efforts and pursuits to this is to truly walk a way of peace.  Two of the most basic human motives  are to find pleasure and to please others.  But when I try to please myself with anything that is not eternal, I am disappointed.  When I seek after those things which have the power to destroy life or those things that cannot continually sustain life, I eventually find myself needing repair or wanting more.  It isn't fair to me or to the things (or people) I seek to expect from them something that only God can provide.  The same can be said for that desire to please others.  Surely, I can make people feel good or satisfied on some ultimately superficial level, but I can never give them that which will quench their deepest human thirsts.  The kinds of troubles that result from seeking satisfaction from and for anything but God are manifold.  In short, they will always leave us hallow, wanting, and frustrated.  But when we become single minded in our goal to find pleasure in the reality of our Creator, and when we endeavor to please our maker in every effort, we begin to taste the fruit that was made to satisfy.  To be pleased by God is to find His mercies in all things, but to never forget that they originate in Him.  The beauty of my wife and child are His beauty.  The fill of a feast at mealtime come from His grace and creativity.  The belly laugh among friends comes from His creation in us alone.  We can find all of our pleasure in God.  Likewise we can please Him in all things.  When we serve our neighbor we do it to serve the one God.  When we order and maintain our lives in the most mundane activities, we do so for the love of Christ.  By the very living of life, we choose to honor the giver of every good gift.  There truly is wholeness in simplicity.  To find our pleasure in the Lord and to please Him with every step, is to know the fullness of life.  Indeed, heaven itself will consist of nothing less than finding our ultimate satisfaction in God and giving ourselves back in return.
 

God Is Jealous For You

"I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" Exodus 20:5

Jealousy is perhaps the most intimate of emotions.  One cannot be jealous for something or someone they do not feel personally belongs to them in some way.  For God to say that He is Jealous for you implies that He feels that you belong to Him.  This belonging is personal.  Jealousy is not something we can theologize or turn into doctrine, it is a raw feeling of zeal and pursuit between the lover and the beloved.  Don't forget the connotation that jealousy has in our minds today.  There is no doubt that it is as corruptible as anger or desire.  But in almost every case I can think of where jealousy is bad, it has begun to overrun the reality of a situation.  Like when a man or woman becomes so possessive of another person that they become blinded to the truth of their love.  But what if, in a relationship of deep love and commitment, true infidelity were a chronic and frequent behavior?  What if the lover watched with their own eyes the beloved turn to rival lovers time and time again.  Wouldn't jealousy be the only natural response to such blatant disregard for a promise of love and faithfulness?  This, I believe is where God's comment about His own character is immortally burned on the world famous 10 commandments in Exodus chapter 20.  God is jealous because he holds out the hope and expectation that vows are to be kept.  Like when someone says in prayer "Oh God, thank you for saving me, I give my whole life to you.  You are my Lord"  and then turns around and allows ANYTHING else to dictate their behavior and attitudes.  God should be jealous!  God's love, affection, and personal desire for us would be either shallow or cold if he were not jealous when we found our hope, life, and salvation in things other than himself.  I, for one, often make the mistake of assuming such a ridiculous possibility about our God: That God's love for me is like the love an assembly line worker has for yet another product rather than the love a lover has for the beloved.  The truth is this: God is so personally attached to me being in an ongoing, faithful relationship with Him that when I disregard that relationship or make it play second fiddle to anything else, He becomes fiercely jealous.  God is jealous for you.  Are you taking your relationship with Him seriously enough?

 

Lets Be Real

Some of the most amazing moments of musical worship that I have ever experienced take place while I'm driving in my car.  I can sing with abandon, tears streaming down my cheeks as I reflect upon the abiding goodness of God.  But almost without fail, when another vehicle approaches my drivers side window, I quickly gather myself and act as if I'm not having a powerfully authentic meeting with the maker of the universe in my vehicle.  Apparently, it is more important for me to appear "normal" to strangers than to exhibit any real vulnerability and uniqueness.  This is just one of countless examples of how my social inhibitions relegate the Spirit of Christ that is within me.  Another example occurs in my daily interactions with acquaintances and casual friends.  I have often longed to share with someone, anyone, what is going on within my soul during times of intense inner-stirrings only to respond to the question "how are you?" with "fine...small talk, small talk, small talk".  Its gotten to the point that I'm sick of trying to whitewash my raw humanity.  I realize that I am not the only one who lives my life with such bland, surface dwelling interactions with the world outside my closest friends and relatives.  This is how I was trained to act around people.  But what if the Christian's most ripe opportunities to proclaim the Good News with their lives came at these moments?  What if by our attempts to appear radically un-extraordinary, we were denying others insight into our human struggles and revelations that often unveil the incarnate presence of God?  I would invite you to try with me the bold exercise of being who you truly are.  Not to annoy or inconvenience others but to stand out as a witness to them of your need for, and insights about deeper realities.  For the truth is that God is moving in the hearts and lives of His people far more powerfully than most of us have the guts to reveal to the world.  Perhaps the very way you or someone else will experience hope, humanity, grace, or mercy is by watching you be courageously real.  Give it a shot and pay attention to what happens. 

Downsizing the Church

If the mainstream church in the United States is going to actually thrive in the next generation it will need to drastically downsize.  Most of the Christians that I know want the church to grow.  They are willing to reach new people and try new ministries.  They may even be willing to spend more energy, time, and money to experience the gospel among new people.  What I haven't seen a readiness to downsize their church experience.  There is a blind expectation that we (the institutionalized mainline church) can both reach the "unchurched" AND remain who we are: A cruise ship designed to provide the very best religious and social experience possible: A great staff that runs great programs and professional quality worship on a great campus.  If the mainstream (middle class) church actually reaches people unlike them, there will be no sustainable way to maintain that kind of lifestyle.  Granted, some churches will be called by God to reach out to other persons who have similar tastes and abilities to finance such an experience.  But most of us, if we're honest with ourselves, will hear the commission to go to "all people" which will include not only those who are unable to afford capital campaigns but also those who are socially intimidated by walking into a building nicer than the nicest homes in their town.
 Let me take the example of how my denomination likes to start new churches.  We like to spend a few hundred thousand dollars up front to help a church pay a few staff members, rent a space to worship, and provide programs/supplies for its ministries.  Over five years the hope is that the church will develop a giving base that can sustain the purchase of a property, the building of a church, and the expansion of a staff.  The goal is to make more churches that look like the ones we all want to become: coffee bars, digital signs, and beautiful spaces for worship and classes.  Most of the time it just ain't gonna happen.  Can we learn to downsize our church experience and be okay with just God and our sisters and brothers in Christ?  Would you still go to church if there were no organ, rockin praise band, or air conditioned rooms with padded seats?  Could you be a part of a growing church that didn't have a huge VBS set and ski trips for the youth?  The future of your church may depend on your answer.