R3: radical, revolutionary, different

What does a sick 3 year old, being kicked off a flight, and losing a power strip have in common?  They are all things that in my two weeks of travel I never expected, and yet they were my biggest challenges. 

Before I left I expected computer problems, stress, or even getting lost in some strange city to be my biggest issues.  But all of those went smoothly.  In fact even driving around Chicago was easy.  Every single thing I worried about worked out perfectly.  What I found was a sudden supply of unexpected problems!  Things that had never even crossed my mind.

Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”  I’m not sure that point has ever been driven home more than these last few weeks. 

I look back at all the stress and feel a little embarrassed by it.  All of the anxiety I felt was pointless.  I didn’t accomplish anything through worry.  I didn’t solve any problems by being nervous.  It was just a big waste of my time and energy. 

I’d like to say I am cured of my need to worry.  But I know that’s not really true.  I think I can honestly say, however, that things are just a bit more in perspective.  And isn’t that what the Christian faith is all about?  Each day making a little more progress towards God. 

Sometimes it’s easy to get down on ourselves.  We blame ourselves for our sins, for our failures.  We start thinking that God can’t use us because we’re not perfect.  God offers us an infinite number of “do overs.”  But we need to be willing to go to him and accept that. 

When I think of that I’m reminded of this shirt:

 Image courtasy ShirtADay

(For those of you who didn’t grow up playing video games this is known as the Konami cheat code, which gave you 30 lives in various video games.)

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”  - Albert Schweitzer

Who’s flame do you have a chance to rekindle?  Who’s life can you radically alter, simply by being there for them?

A significant part of Jesus’ ministry was spent in an area known as Galilee.  This was a region filled mostly with non-Jews, which meant much of traditional Judaism was diluted.  This posed a problem because Jews looked at Jewish culture as “what God demanded,” anything less was seen as inferior. 

In many ways this made Galilee one of the “worst” parts of Israel.   

My study Bible suggests it’s this brokenness that made Jesus spend so much time here.  Which, to be honest, is something I hadn’t considered.  But it makes sense.  Jesus even said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9: 12). 

It seems to me that the closer we get to disaster the more likely we are to take notice of our lives.  And it’s usually here that we begin to realize there’s something wrong.  I’m sure it wasn’t any different 2,000 years ago. 

As Galilee struggled economically, and was looked down upon by the rest of Israel, is it any wonder why they responded so strongly to Jesus?  The people of Galilee saw the problems in their world, and recognized that Jesus was presenting another option.  He was giving them a new way to live.  He was offering hope. 

Sometimes in our prosperity we view God as a convenience (or inconvenience, I suppose, depending on your point of view).  We think of him as something that we can add onto our lives.  But that’s not how we were designed to live.  God is supposed to be an integral part of our lives.

Greg Koukl, of Stand to Reason fame, describes Jesus role in our life as a cure not a band-aid.  Jesus doesn’t “cover up” sin, he takes it from us.  This makes all the difference.  We can’t just choose to apply God to our lives when it’s convenient or when we’re feeling sick. 

That’s what the people of Galilee recognized.  They saw their need for God and responded.  I think it’s entirely possible that if Jesus had started in the most prosperous parts of Israel, with the healthiest people, they never would have recognized their own need for God.  They would have fooled themselves into believing they needed a band-aid instead of a cure.

Sometimes the best thing for us can be a difficult life.  Sometimes it pays to be Galilee.

Last week I wrote about something that really struck me: God has given us a big enough responsibility in just being obedient, we don’t need to worry about “making something” of our lives.  It’s easy to think we need to do more to become successful, but how do we define that success?  

More often than not by the world’s standards.

God defines success so much differently, which is why we’re just asked to be obedient.  This thought hasn’t left my mind all weekend, so I wanted to focus on it again.  But instead of me trying to find words to for my thoughts, I think I’ll just let Building 429’s song Amazed do it for me. 

Where did it go
33 and it’s gone so fast
Thought I knew who I was
I thought that You were leading me

But this depression is
Crashing in on me
And I’m not half the man
I hoped I’d be

But I won’t question in the dark
What is true out in the light
I will follow after You
Through the storm and through the fight

Cause You’ve got me
Right where You want me
Yeah You’ve got me
Right where I need to be
And I’m standing amazed

Not to sound melodramatic but I think there’s a moment (possibly several) in a person’s life where they question if what they are doing is worthwhile.  Is the project you’re working on meaningful?  Is the business you’ve started going to be relevant.  Are you making a difference in people’s lives? 

It’s easy to fall into the idea that we’re somehow not doing “enough.”  And that’s where I’ve been the last few days.  I was wondering if I was doing enough professionally.  Was I reaching everyone I could with R3?  Should I do more? 

I expressed these concerns to a friend, and she said something that froze me in my tracks:

I think you’ve got something backwards here :o].  It’s not you that needs to make something out of your life, it’s God.  That I know of, nowhere in the bible does God tell us that we have to make something out of ourselves.  That’s His job…our job is to listen to what He says and act on what we hear, whether that’s physically doing something, or waiting on God to do something.

Ouch.

She’s right though.  I can’t think of a single example where God said, “why don’t you make something out of yourself?  What are you waiting for?”  God always says, be obedient, and let me do the rest.

All I need to worry about is listening to God, then obeying. 

What a relief!

Sometimes I get caught up in my life.  I get wrapped up in the details as they say.  I worry about the little things and because of that I stop focusing on what God is doing in my life.  Third Day has a song called “Blind” that captures this thought nicely. 

How could I have been so blind to not see you
The more that I look the more I find
You’ve led me to the truth
That I am nothing if I’m without you
You opened my eyes and helped me to find
How could I have been so blind

 focusing on God

God, all too often I spend my time worrying about all the mistakes I’ve made instead of focusing on you.  Help me not to do that.  Remind me that you’ve already forgiven my past, and I can’t control the future, so help me to just focus on the present.  Help me to always keep my eyes fixed on you.  So even if it doesn’t feel like I’m accomplishing anything, as long as I’m following you let that be enough.  Amen.

 <comments are open, feel free to add your own prayer asking to remain focused on God>

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. 

Watching your 401(k) disappear is never a good feeling.  All that work, all that saving, all that energy feel like they are wasted.  I’ve only been putting money into savings for a few years.  Some people have spent 50 years making responsible decisions, saving money, doing the “right thing” only to see it all destroyed in a few months time.  People are angry.  But should we be?

The same is true about the country.  I love the United States.  I think it’s the greatest country in the history of the world.  I think we’ve done more to protect, support, help, and provide for the world than any country in history.  So it pains me to see the talk of an end to US supremacy.  But should it?

There’s no question these events are awful.  Tragic even.  But none of this really matters to a Christian.  Why?  Because we don’t live for more things.  Sure it’s great if we have them.  But that’s not the point. There’s a reason Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter heaven.  Not because being rich is bad, but because Jesus knew that wealth consumes us.

We live for the Kingdom and anything that advances the Kingdom.  If the first Christians lived with joy and happiness as they were being tortured to death, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to act in love as our 401(k)’s fall apart.  If Jews lived under the oppression of foreign rulers, but still managed to love God, is it impossible for us to live in a time when the US isn’t the number one country and still be obedient to God?

Life is hard now.  It’s not easy or comfortable.  But from a Kingdom perspective, is that bad?

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.