R3: radical, revolutionary, different

Today the Dow dropped almost 1,000 points.  And then it gained 800 points back in a matter of minutes.  Things are uncertain, unexpected, and probably some other word that begins with “un”.  There’s no question that this is a tough time.  Maybe not the toughest, but certainly not the easiest.  But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean there’s not opportunity to show people what the Kingdom looks like. 

Christians should always look different from non-Christians.  And I’m not talking clothing here.  I’m talking about our behavior.  As people become more enraged, and more depressed about their financial losses, their behaviors are going to become more extreme. 

How we respond to our own financial losses reflects on how we view the Kingdom and how God operates.  If we act in love despite losing everything, that’s a more powerful example of God’s existence than all the intellectual arguments in the world.

When we live differently the world notices. 

Getting stuff and having things isn’t bad. 

Being consumed with getting stuff and having things is. 

Right now people are tapped out.  They are spent financially, emotionally, and for many, relationally.  How can it be otherwise?  We are constantly told that we need more to fill our lives.  That no matter what we have it isn’t enough, or it’s not the right size.  So we go out and try to lose more weight, or buy more gadgets, or have more dating relationships.  But it’s never enough.  We need more. 

Frankly that’s a tough place to be because the more we embrace a consumerist mindset, the more we believe we have a right to wealth, prosperity, and happiness.  And now that we might not be able to get our next fix, we’re terrified. 

As much as I wish it were true, God never promised that just because we beleive in him, everything will be fine.  In fact, just the opposite may be true.  It seems that the closer you get to God, the more likely “bad” things are going to happen.  Of course that’s only if you define “bad” as not getting gadgets, toys, and pay raises.  Losing our toys may be annoying, losing our jobs may be difficult, losing our lives may be unfortunate.  But losing our souls?  Devastating.   

The thing is, God can still use each of us.  God still wants to be in a relationship with us.  No matter how far we’ve fallen into debt.  No matter how bad the country’s (or world’s) economy looks, there’s always something we can be doing for God.  There is always a way to advance the Kingdom.

And where the Kingdom advances, there is hope. 

Just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean it’s not hard to watch the economy fall apart.  It doesn’t mean there isn’t any stress involved with facing hard times.  What it does mean is that we need to remember to trust God.  He knows what we need, and frankly it’s not really another video game or a new car - what we really need is a stronger relationship with him. 

I don’t always find that comforting as I enter into a crisis.  But that doesn’t make it any less true.

Lord - I pray for all the people who are being affected by this financial crisis.  The people who are losing their homes, their jobs, and their financial security.  Encourage them.  Help them to lean into you, so that they can overcome any obstacle.  And for the rest of us, help us to remain generous, to stay bold, and to act in love.  Amen.

R3 is currently running a series entitled “Phrases.”  Today, however, I’m going to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming.  Mostly because I lost power over the weekend (like tens of millions of people) which makes it difficult to write things on the internet.  So today, instead of business as usual, I want to just take a breath and comment on something I’ve been thinking about since 3:00 yesterday.

Every time I lose power I’m shocked (no pun intended) at just how much of my life revolves around electricity and technology.  It seems everything I do from waking up in the morning to relaxing in the evening requires electricity.  I couldn’t even spend time reading because my apartment was too dark. 

While I’m not alone in this realization about electricity, it does drive a point home for me: the people who wrote the Bible lived so differently from me it’s hard to even imagine their lives.  How can I relate to someone who lived their entire life without electricity, running water, or most importantly, Google? 

Yet they wrote of such profound truths that their advice - the wisdom of the Bible - is still relevant today.

Of course Christians would argue that it wasn’t simply people who came up with the advice, but God.  And judging by just how relevant the Bible is to modern life, I have to agree.  It’s a bit humbling to realize that God knows us so well he can predict our current behavior from thousands of years ago.  Despite all of our modern conveniences and ways we’re still the same people who rebelled against him in the Garden of Eden.  Humanity hasn’t changed, only the shape of our daily lives.  If this doesn’t drive home the relevancy of the Bible, nothing will. 

I may be without power.  And that may last a few days or a week.  But with each passing moment I thank God (literally) that his patience is more reliable than my electric company!

Another phrase I use is something I recently heard.  A few months ago I heard Harvey Carey (pastor of a church in Detroit) talk about dead people.  Not the “I see dead people” kind, but living as dead people.  Which is entirely different than the living dead.  And yes, I really have no idea what I’m talking about right now.

But moving right along, lets focus back on the dead people.  Carey’s main point was this: there would be very little complaining about the clothes we wear, the people we’re around, or even the places we spend our time.  Because, well, dead people don’t complain.

When I heard him say it, I realized it was simple, short, and most importantly, true. 

The minute someone believes in Jesus they become dead to their sins.  Yet we spend so much time complaining that other Christians “don’t do this” or that they “do do that”?  Dead people don’t care if the band plays with the volume at 11, or if people wear suits and ties to church.  They are too focused on what matters - being dead.

I know I don’t always focus on being dead.  All too often I’m caught up in my preferences for things.  That wouldn’t be too bad if it didn’t completely distract me from living a sacrificial life style.  If I wasn’t so wrapped up in getting new toys to play with, or competing with the Jones’s, I wouldn’t be so hesitant to drop everything and help my friends. 

God’s Kingdom is one that focuses outwardly.  It’s not about collecting the most, or even looking the best.  It’s about allowing our self importance to die, so we can help people who need it (for the record, that would be all of us). 

So when you get right down to it, that’s the advantage of being dead, you can really focus on other people.

“Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything’s okay and everything’s going right”

Those are wise words from (of all people) Alanis Morissette. 

I’ve always admired those characters in books or TV who seem to be one step ahead of everyone else.  I’ve always wanted to be like Sherlock Holmes, anticipating events before they happened.  But I’m not.  Some days I’m barely anticipating events after they happened.  There are just some moments in my life that seem to sneak up on me.

I suspect this is called “life.”

Sometimes these events are so stressful, so overwhelming, that they change everything.  No matter how well prepared I thought I was, it wasn’t enough.  That’s hard to take.  It can shake your faith, your vision, and even your relationships.

There’s an adage in the military that you’re always preparing to fight the last war, not the one coming.  This is true of our lives.  We respond to the dangers, threats, and problems we’ve faced in the past, not the one’s that are to come unexpectedly at 3 AM.  Because then they wouldn’t be, um, unexpected…

If I’m going to make a major mistake in my life, it’s usually in these situations.  I tell myself that I don’t have enough time to think things through.  That I must act immediately.  Sometimes I don’t even think at all, I just go with the flow.

That’s a dangerous place to be.

No matter the excuse the bottom line is simple: I don’t turn to God when my life gets out of control.  Sadly, I usually don’t even think about turning to God.  I’m too busy trying to reduce my stress and fears.

Obviously that’s a problem.

The last few years I’ve worked hard at trying to remember to take a deep breath, say a prayer, and wait just a bit before I plunge into activity.  Sometimes this works, sometimes not so much.  But I’ve learned the hard way (which is apparently my preferred learning style) a simple trick.  I’ve learned that if I say a simple phrase, it’s usually enough to get me at least on the right path.

I have a friend who has trouble talking to girls.  To not look like an idiot he tells himself, “use your words.”  It’s a little goofy, and I don’t know if I really believe him, but it’s the same theory I use.  There’s nothing wrong with reminding yourself of the things you hold dear.

Over the course of the next few days we’re going to take a look at some of the phrases I use.  They are all designed to make  me stop, think about God, and then act in a much better way.  And because I recognize that I don’t know everything, I’d like to hear if you guys have phrases as well.  Consider it a collective project.  Maybe we can all learn a little something from each other.

Phrase 1: The joy of the Lord is my strength
Phrase 2: Are you dead?
Phrase 3: Have you prayed about it?
Phrase 4: What’s the point?

 <comments are open>

I was thinking about something today, and it’s not exactly theology, so humor me for a bit.  As much as I’ve tried to escape the reality of age, I am finally coming to the depressing conclusion I’m getting older.  I have reached that stage of my life where my body simply doesn’t respond like it once did.  (And it never returns my phone calls.)

Some of you know what I’m talking about.  Others of you are just waiting for me to discuss walking uphill both ways in the snow.  (By the way, I did this when I was going to high school - there was a valley between my house and the HS.)  As my body changes, the way I think about things is also changing.  You see, sitting here typing this is causing me physical pain because I have an old chair.

Until recently I had never given any consideration to my posture, how I sit, or certainly not what I sit on.  But that’s changing.  The obvious solution is to buy a new chair.  And that would be great, if I hadn’t just resigned from my job.  So right now I can’t afford to buy some fancy, comfortable, ergonomically correct chair. 

When I chose to resign I knew there would be sacrifice involved.  Although this wasn’t exactly what I expected! 

As I sit here thinking about my chair, my job, and my back I can’t help but realize I’m still in better financial shape than 99% of the world’s population.  At least I have a chair to sit on.  This is forcing me to think about the so-called “less fortunate.”  Have I ever stopped to consider the physical pain they go through because they can’t afford new clothes, a warm bed, or even a car to get to work?  Have I stopped to wonder what random issues they have because they don’t have the money they need?

For the first time I think I’m starting to understand that suffering sometimes happens just because we can’t afford to “upgrade” the things we have.  That it’s not simply about “not having” but also about not have the right things.  Owning a pair of shoes doesn’t do you any good if they are a size too small. 

Like I said, this isn’t exactly theological in nature.  Just an observation about the weird ways life (and God) teaches you important lessons.

A certain cable company (rhymes with “Time Warner”) has been causing me difficulties ever since I decided to downgrade my cable subscription.  Each day it seems to get worse. 

• On Thursday they collected my old digital converter box and reclaimed my cable modem (hence no Friday post).  I have high speed internet through them still, so this was a mistake. 
• Their mistake forced me to sit in my apartment waiting for them to deliver a new modem for 12 hours on Friday.  They never showed up.
• Saturday I didn’t talk to them - so no bad news.
• On Sunday I learned they can’t make it to my apartment until Wednesday. 
• This morning (when I finally had some working internet at work) I learned that they also shut down my e-mail address.  And since I’m looking for a new job, this is a bit of an issue!

Now I find myself with a choice: On the one hand I’m furious.  There’s a big part of me that wants to scream, “I didn’t cause any of this, why do I have to deal with it?!”  On the other hand I just wrote a prayer to God asking for patience.  Apparently God was listening, because there’s no doubt now have the perfect opportunity to work on my patience!

As Christians we’re called to live differently.  We aren’t supposed to respond like someone who doesn’t have that relationship with God.  Our lives are supposed to have a different feel to them.  Or as Jesus says, people will recognize our faith by the “fruit” we produce.  (Matthew 7: 20).  The problem is, at least for me, I don’t always want to live that way. I don’t always want to respond calmly, or patiently, and certainly not lovingly.  Sometimes I just want to get in there and argue to “prove” just how right I am.

But is this how Christians are supposed to act?

The times Jesus lost his temper with people were the times they were dishonoring God.  It was never when they were struggling with their own problems, or their own sins.  Jesus always had love, mercy, and compassion for those people.  And that’s how we have to deal with people as well.

No one at the cable company was trying to ruin my service intentionally.  No one wanted me to have a bad day.  In fact, their whole job involves listening to angry customers yell at them.  What kind of a toll does that take on someone?  So while I was angry I took this as an opportunity to minister to people.  While I never said, “hey I’m a Christian, God loves you!”  I did try to be calm, not raise my voice, and get things handled in a civil way.  It was an opportunity to submit to service, rather than exercise my pride (something I do all too often).

Christians aren’t called to be walked all over, but we’re not called to be jerks either.

I tend to be one of those “data driven” types.  You know the kind - they only believe what they can experience.  Which means I have a hard time believing outrageous stories.  So despite all the evidence, despite all the eyewitness testimony, I simply couldn’t believe the stories I heard.  But now I can assure you, it’s all true.  It really is that difficult to switch your cable TV package.   (All it took was talking to 8 people to get my cable working.)

Every time I was blindly transferred to someone it made me think the cable company was more interested in forcing me to talk to certain people and agree to certain things than serving me.  Each time I repeated my phone number to some new person I found myself wondering: do we make church like this?  Do we make getting to know Jesus such a challenge that people lose interest?  Do we chase away people who want to know God because we make them jump through hoops?

Lets face it - no one enjoys talking to the cable company.  It’s not fun to get indirect answers and insincere promises from a business.  So what makes us think someone would like being treated that way when it comes to church?

Now I don’t think most churches (or cable companies) really want to make life more difficult for people.  It’s just kind of what happens.  For companies it’s easier to put in automated phone lines than pay people to answer the phone.  Sure it causes frustration to the customer, but it saves on the bottom line.  Which means they have a decision to make: do we streamline customer support?  Or do we save money?  The way a company answers those types of questions determines the message they send.  It shows the world what they consider a priority. 

Churches aren’t any different.  Maybe we require people to dress a certain way, or talk a certain way, or believe a certain thing before we’re willing to spend time with them.  It’s unintentional for most churches.  But it still happens.  Every time we choose worship style over Jesus we’re telling the world where our priorities lie. 

We’re telling them that it’s not God that counts, but our religion.

Somewhere along the way a handful of churches decided that clothing was next to Godliness.  While another handful decided that loud rock music determines our “commitment” to God.  What started out as our individuality in Christ became our definition of Christ.  We’ve started sending the message, “if you don’t like it, then maybe this isn’t the place for you.”

That doesn’t sound like Jesus to me. 

Our differences are important.  Our passions make us unique.  But maybe it’s time we all decided that it’s more important to connect people to Jesus than to make them jump through the hoops of our differences and passions.  Maybe everyone doesn’t have to agree on all the details, as long as we agree on who Jesus is and what he means for our lives.  Maybe church doesn’t have to be so complicated.  Maybe it’s time to serve first, and ask questions second.

Or maybe we should just get into the cable business.

A few weeks back I read an advance copy of Erwin McManus’ new book Wide Awake. Out of this I began to consider my own nonnegotiables. In other words, the things that I’m simply not willing to give up.

As I’ve been thinking about that for the last few weeks I’m convinced one of them is community.

For many years I lived virtually isolated (by choice, circumstance, and distance) from friends and family. Virtually overnight I went from having a vibrant community of friends to having almost no one. To say it was devastating would be an understatement.

But like so many things in life, God took that moment and changed it’s meaning. He took something that was horrible and changed my perspective on it. He showed me how important it is to reach out to people who are suffering, especially those doing it alone. My heart breaks when I hear that someone had to go through a major event by themselves - no one should have to do that.

I think the early church new this instinctively.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2: 42-47)

Usually this passage is discussed in terms of money. (The believers did, of course, sell “their possessions and goods.”) But I think that misses part of the story, the part about community. The believers didn’t simply sell their belongings, they also “continued to meet together” and they “ate together.” They never lost the fact that they were in community with each other.

It’s not a coincidence that God is described as a personal God. It’s not chance that we refer to him as “Father.” We were never designed to live in isolation. We only can reach our full potential when we’re living in community with others.

Of course that’s easier said than done. Sometimes maintaining community comes at a cost. For the early church it cost them many of their possessions. But they weren’t willing to sacrifice their community. They were willing to make that choice. And I think that’s what I should aspire to. Even if I don’t always feel like it.