R3: radical, revolutionary, different

Things have been pretty serious around R3 the last few weeks.  But God isn’t just about seriousness and contemplation.  He’s also about enjoying life and having fun.  He is the one who created pleasure after all!

Which is why I decided to watch one of my favorite “documentaries” on a “so-called” church.  It’s 7 minutes long, but it’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen on the internet.

So kick back, relax, and enjoy your weekend.

“For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)

I understand this.  There is something that is hard to ‘contain’ when you’ve truly encountered God.  I get giddy (yes, not very manly…) and excited when I talk about God.  It’s hard for me to stop.  In fact, anytime I can talk about him I want to!  But how do you know when to bring up God to other people, especially when they don’t believe?  Can’t you come across as overbearing and turn people away from what you have to say?  Where is that line between enthusiasm, and letting things “slide”?  How about you?  If you’re a Christian, how do you share your faith with others?  Or if you’re not a Christian, how do you feel when someone starts talking about God to you?

 “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11: 46)

As I searched to understand God, I started to read some blogs on the internet. Like all things in life, there are good blogs and bad blogs. But I have to admit, I was often surprised by the anger, bitterness, and argumentativeness with which so many Christian blogs are written. I almost always stop reading these blogs. “How can someone so angry teach me of God’s love?” I ask myself.

Before I started this blog, I gave a lot of consideration to what my motives were. Why was I writing? What was my purpose? Certainly I didn’t have anything to offer. After all, I’m not a Bible scholar, I’m not a brilliant theologian – I’m just a guy that wants to know who God is.

Of course being “just a guy” often means I’m no different than anyone else. I can be every bit as angry, bitter, and argumentative as the next guy. But Jesus wasn’t. Jesus was this guy who always knew the right way to handle the situation. He always knew when to get angry and when to act in love. Of course for him those two things went hand in hand.

As I thought about some of these “angry” blogs, I realized I would leave them feeling a huge sense of burden. I would feel the guilt of not trying hard enough, or feel bad about being a failure at living up to lofty standards. I never felt encouraged or “built into”. I felt weighed down.

But that’s not the impression I get of how Jesus left people. I think whenever someone encountered Jesus they knew they had met someone different, someone who made broken people whole. For certain he challenged everyone. But being challenged is entirely different than weighing people down with burdens.

Jesus frees us to pursue God by lifting our burdens and placing them on himself. That’s an amazing thing.

I don’t want R³ to be a place of burden. I want it to be a place of challenge for both you and for me. Sometimes hearing the truth can be difficult. Sometimes knowing we need to change our lives is hard. Sometimes doing the right thing feels impossible.

But I won’t run away if you won’t.