Desert Faith

blue bird's flight against blue sky

a world below its own expectation 

vast of grey and shadowed oaks 

tell the disappointment of the ground

underneath flow streams so cool and distant

no root can reach their surging swell  

clear fountain, flushing life into the pain

lifting dry and hardened earth - above 

will you come? sighs the space-between 

will you be unbroken?

there, a whisper leaves a treasure     

enough maybe to fly tomorrow  

The Enemy of Perfection

In this human existence, there is no such thing as perfect - but God's love makes that fact tolerable.  In a fallen world, there is no perfect product, no perfect idea, no perfect relationship, no perfect effort.  In church there is no perfect program, no perfect sermon, no perfect worship service.  We are constantly swimming in a life of imperfections.  Yet from the moment we can think and act we are conditioned to pursue perfection.  A 95 isn't quite 100, our bodies don't look like the airbrushed ones in magazines, our families don't operate like the ones in the TV shows.  And so we constantly seek to be more, to be better, to be closer to perfect.  The whole idea is that we can somehow "arrive" if we work hard enough.  We can achieve perfection in our education by getting the highest degree, or in business by getting the next promotion, or in sports by reaching the next level.  But perfect isn't there when we arrive!  Ask anyone who's "made it"!  Perfect is just a mirage to keep us chasing, the end of a rainbow that can never be reached.  The Good News is that God doesn't ask us to be perfect as the world sees perfect, He commands us to be perfect as He is perfect - in love.  To experience the freedom of the Christian life, we must abandon the paradigm of pursuing advancement, achievement, and success as if these paths can satisfy the longings of our souls.  They cannot and will not.  When I stand before my maker (both now and at the end) I will not be judged by how closely I came to being what my fallen mind or this fallen world considers ideal.  I am seen through the lens with which God sees all creation - that of a relationship of love.  My 6 month old son is perfect to me.  Not because he doesn't cry or spit up or have leaky diapers or sleepless nights, but because in my love for him, I am satisfied with his very existence as my child.  My love will not be dictated by whether or not he becomes flawless in the areas which babies tend to have "issues".  May our hearts, energies, ideas, and efforts go toward being perfected in Love with our Savior, not being perfected into the image that our confused minds and world would have us seek.

Anchored in Grace

Once while tent-camping, I awoke after a rainy night to puddles around the edges of the tent and water dripping through the top of the tent.  Due to haste and laziness, the tent had not been secured effectively with stakes at either the base or across the rainfly.  Though the tent looked good the night before, it only took some moisture, wind, and my restless movement through the night to make my shelter a pathetic sponge to the rain.  Since then I've always been very careful to make sure my tent is tightly anchored at all the important places.  I wish I could give the same attention to my life of faith:  Learning to drive my roots into the trustworthy bedrock of Christ.  Alas, I take shortcuts instead of putting in the proper time and energy to ensure that my soul is anchored in the firm ground of God's love and power.  When skies are clear and the breeze is light, my shelter works just fine without being adequately staked.  But when conditions become less than ideal, my refuge from the elements can quickly become a sad excuse for a dwelling.  A camp that is not secure is no camp at all.  For me, these anchors always include prayer, study, and Christian accountability.  Prayer keeps my imagination, outlook, and sense of reality rooted in a living relationship with my maker, savior, and friend.  Study aligns my efforts, ideas, and attitudes with the word and will of God.  Christian accountability offers me mutual support, alternative perspectives, and a tangible sense that I'm not alone.  Like soil that holds, they have to be consistent and strong.  To neglect any one of them loosens the hold on the Rock and risks my slipping into the mercy of the conditions around me.  These anchors cannot be afterthoughts.  They are not optional enhancements that one can choose to employ if they have extra time.  Prayer, study, and christian accountability are what make the difference between a sturdy shelter and a flimsy toy that can easily rip, tear, leak, or fall under pressure.  Lord, give me the discipline to regain a well anchored camp that can withstand the onslaught of challenging conditions.           

Faithfulness as Success

"Well done, good and faithful servant!" - Matthew 25:21

Faithfulness is what God asks of us, it is what determines whether or not we've accomplished our purpose, and it is what earns the reward of our Maker's approval.  It is a spirit of faithfulness that produces obedience.  The difficulty with faithfulness to God is that it is terribly narrow minded.  The first call to faithfulness toward God is: "There are no other God's before me".  Faithfulness toward God means that there is only one master, one Lord, one to whom we are called to be ultimately faithful.  Thankfully, God's infinite wisdom and love directs us to be the best person we can be when we are faithful to Him.  Our righteousness in relationships with others is at its richest when we are being faithful to God and God alone.  Still, it is impossible to be faithful to one God without simultaneously being unfaithful to a host of others.  I cannot be faithful to a God of generosity and a god of greed at the same time, either he will hate the one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other (Matt 6:24).  In ministry, I struggle with such singular and focused allegiance.  I want to please God and please the people around me.  I want to speak truth without hurting anyones feelings.  I want to make kingdom-of-heaven building decisions and still appease the kingdom-of-this-world.  The harsh truth is that I can't.  I have to make a choice: Who will I be faithful to?  And because the only one who has ever been able to make my life provide real and lasting good for myself and the people around me is Jesus Christ, I'm going to be faithful to Him.  Even if it means I'm unfaithful to some other power, value, or norm.  Even if that power, value, or norm is embedded in the attitudes of the people I care about and serve.  For I cannot be eternally faithful to anyone I love and care about if I am not first faithful to the God who knows how to love them perfectly and into wholeness.  God, grant us the grace to be faithful to you alone in our families, our church, and our world.