a troubling thought

Today I am troubled by a thought...
that we are not shocked enough by the evil in our world.

I'm not sure how to even fully address it.

But I do know that what isn't helping is
our vain attempt to seem wise in a coffeehouse conversations,
or the hope of being thought of as green in a world that is temporal,
or shining our toys while neglecting our soul,
or our playful banter that substitutes being cutesy for being authentic.

For what is even more shocking than the evil in the world
is our inability - nay, unwillingness - to own up to
the evil in ourselves...
that we haven't yet dealt with.

Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable. ~ G. K. Chesterton

speaking of Christians

I had an intriguing lunch this past week with someone in our church. Not only was the food great, but we even got to sit outside on the patio of the restaurant and enjoy the sun. More importantly, though, we chewed on more than good Mexican food - we chewed on things that really matter.

And some of those things included you.

Granted, your name wasn't mentioned, but the concept of "Christians in general" was. Maybe you know what I mean - we do this all the time when we're trying to wrestle with a concept and need to illustrate how a group of people generally interact with it. Maybe something like this has come out of your mouth even today:

• Something positive: "Businesses need to be friendlier. Kind of like how at Chick-Fil-A they're always saying, 'It would be my pleasure' at whatever request you give them. Our company is sort of friendly like that."
  
  
• Something negative: "I'm so tired of people just doing what they do for a paycheck. The other day I was in a store and it seemed like every employee could care less at my questions about where stuff was. It made want to leave. People like that drive me crazy."

Get the picture? We so often like to muse about other people, don't we?

So if you were to take part in a conversation about "Christians in general," what sort of statements do you think you would drift to - the positive or the negative?

Let me give you a couple of topics:

• Bible reading: How would you generalize how the average Christian handles or doesn't handle the Bible?
  
  
• Relationships: Would you say that Christians do a good job at reconciling tensions with others they've had an issue with or are they more quick to avoid having the hard, cleansing conversation?
  
  
• Sharing their faith: What kind of statements might you make about the frequency and quality Christians put into talking about the thing they say they value most - a relationship with Jesus Christ?
  
  
• Church commitment: Would you summarize Christians as being truly committed to their local community of Christians, or would you say they are more consumers about it all - quick to leave if something or someone irritates them?
  
  
• Being real: What is more common in your experience - Christians who feel they need to put on a mask or those who can be the real deal and inspire others with their transparency?
  
  
• Clean slates: Are Christians ready and willing to give clean slates - or are they more willing to remember and look down their nose at others?
  
  
• Theological stretching: Would you say most Christians want to know the bare minimum or are they more interested in adding to their faith knowledge and practice?
  
  
• Open or closed hand: When they talk about following Jesus, would you say most Christians open their hands up to Him in every area of their lives or close their fists on a few things that they just want to keep asking Him for forgiveness on?
  

Maybe there are more categories to consider, but these were a few we touched base on.

Easy, right? We can all give our quick opinions on those topics.

Only that's not why I write this - here's the real conversation.

Before you utter your thoughts and comments about "them," consider what you're adding or subtracting to this generalization of Christians based on the way you live yourself. I mean, that's the real guts of all of this, isn't it?

As my buddy and I chatted, we found ourselves coming back to that anchor over and over - is the real issue what we think about other Christians, or is the real issue why we feel the need to think things about other Christians.

Is it for their security... or for our own?

Because we all like to feel like we're doing it right and everyone else is doing it wrong.

But what if that motive keeps us from ever asking if we're doing it right?

So first, your thoughts on yourself... and then your thoughts on "them."

I think that's how Jesus set it up (and why I think it will be hard to generate many comments on this post that actually follow that format).

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5)

spiritual growth plan

The classic axiom says that if you aim for nothing you will hit it every time. We "get" that when it comes to things like physical fitness or professional goals, and yet we so often neglect it when it comes to the core part of our lives - our spiritual core.

This past week in service, I shared some questions we should all wrestle with to make 2009 a year where we grow in our connection with God. I hope this list inspires you as much as I have been wrestling with it, too.

A 15-Question Spiritual Growth Plan for 2009:

• How will you grow in your love for God in a way that encompasses all of who you are and all of who He is?
  
• How will you grow in your love for the people you see everyday and care about their spiritual condition, whatever it is?
  
• In what area of your life do you most need to grow to be more like Jesus?
  
• Read Galatians 5 - which fruit of the Spirit needs most development in your life?
  
• What will you read in the Bible this year?
  
• What sections of Scripture will you memorize so you can “own” them?
  
• How will you deepen your prayers this year?
  
• What music will help you worship more?
  
• What books will you read and/or reread?
  
• With whom do you need to build or rebuild a relationship/friendship with this year?
  
• How will you maximize the teachings of this church – in person and online?
  
• What special events should you be a participant in? What values and activities do you need to become a point person in?
  
• What new practices of connecting with God do you need to develop?
  
• What resources do you have that you need to release back to the God who gave them to you?
  
• Who will hold you accountable?

Don't slip into spiritual apathy... take this on with me and some other brave men and women, and let's see if this world doesn't respond to some real-deal change from God to us to them.

the problem with indifference, if you care to know

Chuck Yeager, the famed test pilot, was flying an F-86 Sabre over a lake in the Sierras when he decided to buzz a friend’s house near the edge of the lake. During a slow roll, he suddenly felt his aileron lock. Says Yeager, "It was a hairy moment, flying about 150 feet off the ground and upside down."

A lesser pilot might have panicked with fatal results, but Yeager let off on the G’s, pushed up the nose, and sure enough, the aileron unlocked. Climbing to 15,000 feet, where it was safer, Yeager tried the maneuver again. Every time he rolled, the problem recurred.

Yeager knew three or four pilots had died under similar circumstances, but to date, investigators were puzzled as to the source of the Sabre’s fatal flaw. Yeager went to his superior with a report, and the inspectors went to work. They found that a bolt on the aileron cylinder was installed upside down.

Eventually, the culprit was found in a North American plant. He was an older man on the assembly line who ignored instructions about how to insert that bolt, because, by golly, he knew that bolts were supposed to be placed head up, not head down. In a sad commentary, Yeager says that "nobody ever told the man how many pilots he had killed." (From "Yeager" by Chuck Yeager, Bantam, 1985)

when in rome...

In the final days of the Roman Empire, wealth and power were the only things that the emperor and his "yes-men" coveted. Useless conquests took place, one after another, all so that he might build his own ego through the acquisition of people and palaces.

What about the good citizens of Rome?

Did they rise up and claim the foul? Did they march on the national monument? Did they get celebrities to launch an internet campaign? Did they have a Popeye moment and proclaim, "I've had all I can standz, and I cant's standz no more!?!?"

No.

They went to the colliseum.

They chose to watch in person the mindless violence we pay $10 to see in a movie.

And in the end... they stood idle while evil and selfishness destroyed their world.

In our lifetime each of us may be faced with a similar situation of clarity. Destructive forces are at work all around us, from our neighbors who sit on the brink of divorce while we watch from our porches to pornography being available to kids via a few quick keystrokes. Those are the easy ones to spot, not to mention the greed, hate, bitterness, sexual brokenness, and lust that swell beneath many of our lives.

What if apathy wasn't an option? What if we had to choose a side? To either be all out or all in about the things God cares about?

Because I don't like choosing sides.

And yet... we have to, don't we?

Otherwise by our indifference... we've chosen a side.

So the question is will you leave your footprints on the history of time as a proactive redeemer of the way things are created to be? Or will you let such ideals be washed away by the tides of more charismatic men and women?

There is a cross... and on it held a man named Jesus. It was a stake in the ground that had meaning and continues to do so even today.

Embrace his invitation to let your life shine like the stars in the universe.

With the cross comes ownership.

Please decide.

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth... Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:15-16,
20)

(slow-mo)

Katie and I saw End Of The Spear last night (thanks Scott!).

As a Christian, I have to say this is one of those movies I really enjoyed and am thankful for. There aren't too many pictures made by believers that are worth the movie screen. I'm sorry to say that, but honestly... there is some hokey stuff out there.

A couple years back when we saw The Passion Of The Christ, my wife and I found ourselves deeply affected and amazed by a movie. I've seen some incredible pictures, but with this one I literally couldn't get up out of my chair for a solid ten minutes due to its graphic impact. On our way home, we discussed questions like, "Now what? Shouldn't seeing something like this cause other things to seem less important? Shouldn't this help our focus be as pure as possible?"

Last night some great dialogue came out of our experience with End Of The Spear. After seeing the lengths that the Saint family went through, we wondered what our "Waodani tribe" might be. We asked questions like, "Who is God calling us to be proclaimers of Jesus Christ to... His love, truth, and way... and the life he offers us in lieu of death?" Great dialogue, and I think we're still processing it.

As a dad, though, watching some of the scenes was a bit difficult. My wife and I have this saying we throw around as a comfort whenever we see something moving involving death. It's a simple two word phrase, "Don't die." Last night when it came up, though, it was (for the first time) met with the response, "But let's not forget to live, either."

It's this kind of slow-motion thinking that many of us often neglect in life. We become so concerned about doing our tasks that we forget to enjoy life "frame by frame." Do you know what I mean? Those moments when you push back from the table and take a picture with your brain as you think, "How in the world did I ever deserve this?" Or maybe when you're hanging with a really good friend and realize, "This friendship is important to me, and it's obviously important on the other end, too." Quite possibly you might be a rare person who is in a job that you love, be it for money or a stay-at-home gig... and you find yourself thinking, "YES! This rocks!"

Slow-motion thinking...
frame by frame...
even while life continues to roll on at high speed.

I've been processing this, too, especially since I'm home a lot. Sometimes proximity to a blessing can cause you to neglect it, and so I have intentionally been telling myself to just wrestle with my kids, smooch my lady, or make a nice meal that we can all enjoy. It seems obvious, doesn't it? And yet the pace of the Great Movie that we are all in as supporting characters can overwhelm us into unconscious apathy.

Back to the movie, go see it. I know that there is a bit of healthy dialogue about the actor who played one of the lead roles, but if you get the chance I'd highly suggest you see it soon on the screen before it fades away on some video shelf somewhere. Especially if you're a Christian, this just might cause you to ask some questions you may have forgotten to ask in awhile.

Slow-motion thinking...
frame by frame...
even while life continues to roll on at high speed.

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalm 46:10