“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
Job 7:13-16
“When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,
even then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
so that I prefer strangling and death,
rather than this body of mine.
I despise my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone; my days have no meaning.”
Job hits the nail right on the head. So many times our places of comfort and complacency offer us no rest. We find ourselves in a place in life where the sun is shining all the time. The problems of life seem to be completely non existent. Life is golden. Everything seems to be going right and looking up. This is the type of life that when we are living it we lose sight of our dependence on God. God will sometimes use situations to rock the very foundation we walk on as a tsunami to a vacation destination. An abrupt stoppage in the midst of our euphoria that we call perfection, when truly we do not realize that we have allowed ourselves to be seduced by one of the most dangerous situations for a Christian. A comfortable, complacent position is not one that is acceptable for a Christian.
For a short period of time i lived in a small Texas town outside of Dallas on a ranch. One of the duties i had during this time was to shear the llamas. Llamas are in themselves very elusive and sketchy creatures. You have to chase them down, corner them, grab hold of them by the neck and lead them to the barn. Once you are at the barn you have to force them to their knees and hold them down to shear all of the fur off of their bodies. They completely hate and despise this when in all actuality it is for their own good. The summers are too hot in Texas for a llama to keep their winter/spring coat. The unnecessary things need to be removed and stripped from their bodies so that they can be healthy and able to continue their daily lives as. The fur that is removed is not just discarded but has a purpose on the ranch whether to sell or even use as stuffing or a deterrent for enemies along the outlying areas of the ranch. This shearing time is not just a painful time for the llama but is also one for the cowboy as well. It can be frustrating just catching the llama because in the back of the cowboys mind he knows the entire purpose for this shearing. Watching the animal squirm and squeal once on its knees because it thinks its in danger wrenches the cowboy’s heart. He loves for the animal and only wants to see it healthy and useful. And once the animal is naked and the fur is stripped away there is a sense of relief in both the animal and cowboys mind that all the unnecessary weight and fur has been released and removed from the animal, even when the animal had no faith in the cowboys knowledge of what was best for them.
In our Christian walks we are so many times like that llama. We have become complacent with the “unnecessary fur” that we carry around on a daily basis. It brings us a sense of comfort as well as safety knowing that this will definitely shield us from the outside elements as well as the pain that may come our way. In this complacent state God wants us to be free of that idea of trusting in ourselves. We think that this is ok, that this whole idea is good. We run away from anything that we find or even see as uncomfortable or outside of normality in our own lives. We try escape situations that we know are going to force us to grow up spiritually as well as emotionally. God has to sometimes wrangle us by the necks and bring us to our knees to remove and strip away all the things that are holding us back, weighing us down, and are unnecessary in our lives. When are we going to get to the point where we can be comfortable in this pruning and refining process in our own life.
I have experienced this several times in my own life. I have experienced a variety of times that feeling of being taken out of my element of comfort and placed into a new situation where God has to remove some of the negative things out of my own life. It has not always been sin. This moment of pruning in my own life is definitely a necessary one. Every distraction that i have held onto and used to weasel my way out of uncomfortable situations has been removed. I am single, living alone in an apartment that has no internet, no television, and no cell phone service. I am living in an area where i knew one family coming down here. I stuck out like a sore thumb and was completely unprepared for what i would experience in such a short time as three months. But looking back, it was the stripping away of all this that i found the most value in. I found the need to rely on God to get me through my day. Every breath, every drop of energy, every word that i issue out of my mouth must come from my heavenly Father and supplier.
Without him ever present in our lives we are nothing but a pointless object, wearing ourselves out as we carry around all the unnecessary weight in our lives. If can bring ourselves to the position of humility as well as take that step of our faith and submit ourselves to the author and finisher of perfection we would see a drastic change. I wonder sometimes if we even realize what could be in our own lives. Are we so stuck on this idea of our sinful state that we have become comfortable with wallowing in our own pit of filth? Or is it fear that drives us to insanity and back as we search for a way out of this mess we lay in? We need to be able to give up what we think is good to chase after and obtain that which is great in God.
Whatever it truly is we need to realize that a stripping away of that fur in our life needs to take place on a daily basis.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Check your Pits
Your Pits Stink.
New York City, the city of dreams. The ones that are both easily lost as well as easily gained. One of the main tourist destinations in the world showed me a valuable lesson that I was convicted of in my own spiritual life. As i sat on the subway riding from the bronx to broadway i had an event that literally still to this day. It makes me gag even just thinking about it. I was sitting down with my good friend across from me on the other side of the subway. A man sat next to me and when he sat down my world was literally rocked. He was dressed as if he had just come from the gym. Nike and UnderArmour clearly received a pretty penny from him as he was decked out from head to toe. He was listening to music on his iPhone and anyone who saw him would guess he was a well off individual. But when i took a deep breath in through my nose i nearly threw up in the subway. The stench of body odor this man was giving off was literally enough to kill a man. I do not doubt that it may have made people pass out on the platform as they waited to get on the train. Gagging i sat there trying not to make any faces or expressions that he would see and be offended by, nor did i have the nerve to tell him he reeked of stench. All i wanted to do was say to him, “man your pits stink!” As he exited the train a few stops later i exhaled quickly almost gasping for air and those around me gave out a chuckle, because apparently we were all thinking the same thing about this one individual.
But that got me thinking. This one moment provoked inside of me a deep contemplation of the series of events that most christians see on a weekly basis. So many times we as a church body find ourselves praying and pleading with God to bring in the people, to soften their hearts, and to give us opportunities to reach out to them and show them the gospel. But yet we want God to do all the work. We want them to have their lives cleaned up before they enter the church so we are no left to “clean the mess” that is left in their life. We sit in church, know their history, know their problems and sins and yet we act as if their sin is a contagious disease that is gonna spread. The stench of their sin drives us away back into our “holy huddles.” Then once they feel uncomfortable or no longer want to be apart of our community they leave and we are left chuckling amongst ourselves about the laundry list of sins that they had. We sit in our pews as if we are pompous priests who have it all figured out. Instead of trying to mentor and disciple them we just try to spray cologne on their stench, cover up the problem and try to disguise it rather than remedy it. The problem in the church today is not the stench of sin in our congregation, but rather the stench of religion that we have become accustomed and complacent with. If we look at Christ’s ministry we dont see him among the religious much. To put it bluntly and specifically Christ did not hang out with the churched. Instead he rather chose to hang out among the sinners. He spent his time building relationships with the thieves, liars, prostitutes, sluts, addicts, and the possessed. His ministry wasnt to the church. If Christ were on the earth today would he really be able to step into the church or would the stench of our pompous religion drive him right back out of the door. Would we be too concerned with covering up the sinners stench with the “cologne” of our religion or would we be comfortable with allowing Him to step through every part of our church as well as our lives. We think just because we are saved we have it figured all out. But yet we meet people in our community who are dying and going to hell and have nothing figured out in this life. The “heathens” enter our church and well greet them but yet we wont sit with them, we don’t take the opportunity to build a relationship with them becuase they are the “town alcoholic, town whore, town prostitute, or drug dealer.” We need to get over ourselves and allow people to enter an environment where they feel comfortable with coming to Jesus as they are sin and all rather than building an environment where we just get our ego’s stroked and are able to make it to the next Sunday to just get our “holy juice” fix. When are we as a church going to realize that our complacency is failing us and cheating us out of accomplishing the Great Commission? We need to be in the world but not of the world. We need to come to the point where the “stench” of the sinners doesnt drive us away but rather draws us to the hurting, lost, misguided, and unsaved. The world has enough fakes and frauds in it, the church as a whole needs to wake up and remove themselves from that label. We need to stop tearing down the sinner and rather build them up in Christ. We need to mimick the attitude of Jesus in reaching out to the lost instead of holding our breath, gagging our way through service because of the stench of the people sitting next to us. And in reality have we really smelled ourselves lately? So what does your church smell like? Is it that sweet perfume with a hint of a reeking stench or is it real, honest, and loving the stench of the sinner as they walk through the door.
Maybe we as the church of today we need to check our pits.
New York City, the city of dreams. The ones that are both easily lost as well as easily gained. One of the main tourist destinations in the world showed me a valuable lesson that I was convicted of in my own spiritual life. As i sat on the subway riding from the bronx to broadway i had an event that literally still to this day. It makes me gag even just thinking about it. I was sitting down with my good friend across from me on the other side of the subway. A man sat next to me and when he sat down my world was literally rocked. He was dressed as if he had just come from the gym. Nike and UnderArmour clearly received a pretty penny from him as he was decked out from head to toe. He was listening to music on his iPhone and anyone who saw him would guess he was a well off individual. But when i took a deep breath in through my nose i nearly threw up in the subway. The stench of body odor this man was giving off was literally enough to kill a man. I do not doubt that it may have made people pass out on the platform as they waited to get on the train. Gagging i sat there trying not to make any faces or expressions that he would see and be offended by, nor did i have the nerve to tell him he reeked of stench. All i wanted to do was say to him, “man your pits stink!” As he exited the train a few stops later i exhaled quickly almost gasping for air and those around me gave out a chuckle, because apparently we were all thinking the same thing about this one individual.
But that got me thinking. This one moment provoked inside of me a deep contemplation of the series of events that most christians see on a weekly basis. So many times we as a church body find ourselves praying and pleading with God to bring in the people, to soften their hearts, and to give us opportunities to reach out to them and show them the gospel. But yet we want God to do all the work. We want them to have their lives cleaned up before they enter the church so we are no left to “clean the mess” that is left in their life. We sit in church, know their history, know their problems and sins and yet we act as if their sin is a contagious disease that is gonna spread. The stench of their sin drives us away back into our “holy huddles.” Then once they feel uncomfortable or no longer want to be apart of our community they leave and we are left chuckling amongst ourselves about the laundry list of sins that they had. We sit in our pews as if we are pompous priests who have it all figured out. Instead of trying to mentor and disciple them we just try to spray cologne on their stench, cover up the problem and try to disguise it rather than remedy it. The problem in the church today is not the stench of sin in our congregation, but rather the stench of religion that we have become accustomed and complacent with. If we look at Christ’s ministry we dont see him among the religious much. To put it bluntly and specifically Christ did not hang out with the churched. Instead he rather chose to hang out among the sinners. He spent his time building relationships with the thieves, liars, prostitutes, sluts, addicts, and the possessed. His ministry wasnt to the church. If Christ were on the earth today would he really be able to step into the church or would the stench of our pompous religion drive him right back out of the door. Would we be too concerned with covering up the sinners stench with the “cologne” of our religion or would we be comfortable with allowing Him to step through every part of our church as well as our lives. We think just because we are saved we have it figured all out. But yet we meet people in our community who are dying and going to hell and have nothing figured out in this life. The “heathens” enter our church and well greet them but yet we wont sit with them, we don’t take the opportunity to build a relationship with them becuase they are the “town alcoholic, town whore, town prostitute, or drug dealer.” We need to get over ourselves and allow people to enter an environment where they feel comfortable with coming to Jesus as they are sin and all rather than building an environment where we just get our ego’s stroked and are able to make it to the next Sunday to just get our “holy juice” fix. When are we as a church going to realize that our complacency is failing us and cheating us out of accomplishing the Great Commission? We need to be in the world but not of the world. We need to come to the point where the “stench” of the sinners doesnt drive us away but rather draws us to the hurting, lost, misguided, and unsaved. The world has enough fakes and frauds in it, the church as a whole needs to wake up and remove themselves from that label. We need to stop tearing down the sinner and rather build them up in Christ. We need to mimick the attitude of Jesus in reaching out to the lost instead of holding our breath, gagging our way through service because of the stench of the people sitting next to us. And in reality have we really smelled ourselves lately? So what does your church smell like? Is it that sweet perfume with a hint of a reeking stench or is it real, honest, and loving the stench of the sinner as they walk through the door.
Maybe we as the church of today we need to check our pits.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The essence of the bat
Imagine this. You are sitting in prison one day. All alone in solitary confinement. You have been beaten, bruised, and left to waste your time away in this tiny cell. You have tried to escape this prison anyway you can but you only find yourself being thrown deeper and deeper into this prison. Time begins to cease to exist and hope floats away with every passing breath. It has become a pointless fight. You have struggled enough and just can't take it anymore. You have now lost all drive. Complacency in your current position is all that matters to you now. In your fetal position you wish something, anything would change. Then something remarkable happens. You are shocked to see a visitor wake you up out of your current sleep that you are in. Your disheveled look presents a look of perplexion and confusion on your face as this well dressed individual begins to offer you your freedom. He begins to tell you that you can be free from this prison you are in. You can put this all behind you. You can walk out of this prison and find a new life to fully live up to your potential. All you have to do is take a journey that will test you in every way. Would you take it? Would you take that journey to gain your freedom? After all, this prison that you are in has removed you from your friends, family, and normal everyday life. It has consumed you. Freedom at this point seems near impossible to attain let alone even imagine. But yet you have the choice. Bruce Wayne had this very option placed in front of him. He had been content to live a life of crime. It had become his life and it had lead him to prison. There was no sight of freedom for him until being visited by raz a goul. Raz gave him a chance for freedom.
I've always been a batman fan for the simple reason that he is a normal human being. He has no super power, he isn't a mutant, he is just a rich everyday guy who is looking to change the world around him for the better. This one simple part of the story has always amazed me and lately has shown me some valuable lessons that I needed to apply in my own Christian walk. Bruce Wayne was in darkness. Locked in a prison with no hope for escape. This was his plight. He had no friends or family that were aware of his current location. It was a simple fact that he was alone. But yet he was offered freedom.
This is so ironically similar to our current lives. We find ourselves in the grip of sin, addiction, or even our own stupidity. It controls us, it locks us into a prison that we have no chance of escape. We are beaten down by that with every escape attempt we try to create. We find ourselves being lead deeper and deeper into this prison. Sometimes we are willingly lead away. Other times we are not so sure of it and fight it all the way. Whichever path we choose we still are slowly being lead away deeper and deeper into this prison. We need an escape. We are so deep in our sin and addiction that we can't even begin to fathom what true freedom even looks like. We search for it in any avenue we can find possible. We look for an escape and do not find it. In fact we are so sure of our own strength that we believe that we can do it on our own and everything will work out the way we need it or want it to. In the end we wind up screwing ourselves worse and worse with every decision we make. Then that opportunity for freedom cones along and we have no idea that our world Is about to explode and be completely reinvented. In the middle of our agony Christ shows up in the middle of our prison cell. He wakes us up from our sleep that we are in. He removes us from that blindness that has overtaken our vision. Everything has become clouded and jaded in our minds and we need that to change. We need to be freed from this prison that we find ourselves in. There Christ stands offering his hand in help as well as gratitude. He offers us a chance to Be released from this prison and experience our lives with him to the fullest. He offers us a chance to achieve our full potential by living our lives in a manner he would approve of. All that we are required to do is to just take a journey with him. This journey will not be easy. We are going to be tested in every way possible. But yet there the door stands open allowing us to be free from thus prison of addiction. John 8:36 simply but so powerfully states "Whom the son sets free is free indeed." It is in this verse that our bail is validated. Christ himself paid the price for our freedom. He paid the price to allow us to be free of all the addictions and sins and mindsets that hold us back from living our full potential and purpose in Christ. But it is our decision to change. We are always Fearful of change.
It is that feeling of the unknown. Sometimes freedom is a frightening thing. The founding fathers felt this same feeling when they gained their independence. They recognized the responsibility they had to their constituents. It wasn't just a new lifestyle but An entire new way of life. The same is for our own lives. Once we experience freedom on that level we sometimes are fearful. We have a responsibility to be weary of upcoming tests that are going to try to trip us up in the future. Through prayer and focus. Our attention can be diverted to better resources and uses of our time and energy. Christ called us to be victors not victims. And will we mess up. But just as Alfred said "Why do we fall master Bruce, so we can learn to pick ourselves back up." freedom in Christ is the goal.
I've always been a batman fan for the simple reason that he is a normal human being. He has no super power, he isn't a mutant, he is just a rich everyday guy who is looking to change the world around him for the better. This one simple part of the story has always amazed me and lately has shown me some valuable lessons that I needed to apply in my own Christian walk. Bruce Wayne was in darkness. Locked in a prison with no hope for escape. This was his plight. He had no friends or family that were aware of his current location. It was a simple fact that he was alone. But yet he was offered freedom.
This is so ironically similar to our current lives. We find ourselves in the grip of sin, addiction, or even our own stupidity. It controls us, it locks us into a prison that we have no chance of escape. We are beaten down by that with every escape attempt we try to create. We find ourselves being lead deeper and deeper into this prison. Sometimes we are willingly lead away. Other times we are not so sure of it and fight it all the way. Whichever path we choose we still are slowly being lead away deeper and deeper into this prison. We need an escape. We are so deep in our sin and addiction that we can't even begin to fathom what true freedom even looks like. We search for it in any avenue we can find possible. We look for an escape and do not find it. In fact we are so sure of our own strength that we believe that we can do it on our own and everything will work out the way we need it or want it to. In the end we wind up screwing ourselves worse and worse with every decision we make. Then that opportunity for freedom cones along and we have no idea that our world Is about to explode and be completely reinvented. In the middle of our agony Christ shows up in the middle of our prison cell. He wakes us up from our sleep that we are in. He removes us from that blindness that has overtaken our vision. Everything has become clouded and jaded in our minds and we need that to change. We need to be freed from this prison that we find ourselves in. There Christ stands offering his hand in help as well as gratitude. He offers us a chance to Be released from this prison and experience our lives with him to the fullest. He offers us a chance to achieve our full potential by living our lives in a manner he would approve of. All that we are required to do is to just take a journey with him. This journey will not be easy. We are going to be tested in every way possible. But yet there the door stands open allowing us to be free from thus prison of addiction. John 8:36 simply but so powerfully states "Whom the son sets free is free indeed." It is in this verse that our bail is validated. Christ himself paid the price for our freedom. He paid the price to allow us to be free of all the addictions and sins and mindsets that hold us back from living our full potential and purpose in Christ. But it is our decision to change. We are always Fearful of change.
It is that feeling of the unknown. Sometimes freedom is a frightening thing. The founding fathers felt this same feeling when they gained their independence. They recognized the responsibility they had to their constituents. It wasn't just a new lifestyle but An entire new way of life. The same is for our own lives. Once we experience freedom on that level we sometimes are fearful. We have a responsibility to be weary of upcoming tests that are going to try to trip us up in the future. Through prayer and focus. Our attention can be diverted to better resources and uses of our time and energy. Christ called us to be victors not victims. And will we mess up. But just as Alfred said "Why do we fall master Bruce, so we can learn to pick ourselves back up." freedom in Christ is the goal.
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