Completely Wet

John was next door helping wash our neighbor’s car. So guess what he wanted to do when I got home from work? Yep, wash my car. It needed it, but I was immediately confronted with my lack of desire to let him wash my car because it’s always more work for me to let him DO it. But I got past my selfishness and ‘helped’ him wash my car. Needless to say I got wet. With him holding the hose and spraying the car, it was inevitable. I was OK with getting my feet and hands wet, but sure enough, my shirt and shorts got a little moist. The nozzle on our sprayer sticks and is hard to shut off, so you can just imagine how easy it is to get wet.

I didn’t want to get my shorts and shirt wet, but it happened.

When we give our lives to Jesus, we get wet. In fact, we should get soaked. Every part of our body, soul, mind, and heart is to be covered by Jesus. It is an important part of the reason I like the symbolism of immersion. You get fully dunked. There is no place that is not wet.

But we learn quickly how to try and keep certain parts of our lives dry. We learn how to follow Jesus by partial immersion. We give up control in certain areas of our lives. We obey certain sections of Scripture. We take only certain risks. Yet, in doing so, we stop getting soaked. We start to have certain areas of our lives which no longer get immersed in Jesus. We control them. We determine them. While being dry, they remain safe, controlled, and comfortable areas of our lives.

How wet are you willing to get for the sake of Jesus?

When Joshua invites the Israelites to renew their covenant with God, he says, “ . . . revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods of your ancestors . . . and serve the Lord.”

But before he gets to this part, do you know what he reminds them? He doesn’t start with what they need to do; he starts with what He has done. In fact, he says, “Thus says the Lord . . .” and the rest of this is God actually pointing out what He has done for them. “I took Abraham and led him to Canaan. . . I gave him Isaac . . . I gave (Isaac) Jacob & Esau. . . I gave Esau the hill country . . . I sent Moses & Aaron . . . I plagued Egypt . . . I brought your ancestors out of Egypt . . . You saw what I did to Egypt . . . I brought you to the land of the Amorites . . . I handed them over to you . . . I destroyed them before you . . . I rescued you out of his (Balak’s) hand . . . I handed them (Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites) over to you . . . I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built.” (Joshua 24:3-13)

What would God say to you about what He has done for you? Maybe it would go something like this. . . “I gave you life . . . I led you through struggle . . . I helped you see who you are . . . I set you free from sin . . . I have you purpose . . . I know you better than anyone else . . . I have not given up on you . . . I’ve given you peace, joy, love, hope, grace . . . I spoke to you . . . I showed you who I am . . . I showed you how much I love you . . . I gave you my Son . . .”

So when Joshua invites the Israelites to renew their covenant with God, they do so standing upon God and what He has done for them. We do the same.

“Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed . . . Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” (24:16-18)

If you are going to keep covenant with God, it means getting completely wet. It means everything. Giving up everything to God. Being faithful in all His commands. Trusting Him to lead you throughout this life, for HE IS OUR GOD!

Listening to Your Life

This title comes from a devotional from Fredrick Buechner. It’s basically a collection of his quotes broken up into 365 days. It’s good, but I’m not here to discuss this.

I’m learning to listen to my life. You probably are, too.

I’m learning that God speaks through our lives. Based on the circumstances we experience and the relationships we have, God speaks. Some of what he is saying, we don’t want to hear. All of what he is saying, we really need to hear. Some of what he is saying, we don’t hear, because we stop listening to our lives OR we don’t recognize how important it is to listen.

One of the clear ways God is not speaking into our lives is when we start focusing on how others need to change. It is easy to allow our minds and focus to fall on others and how much our lives would be better if they would change. That is not what God is saying, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t speaking. In fact, with what is rumbling around our heads, God is trying to get our attention. He is trying to speak to us about us.

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17

When He’s talking to us, He’s talking about us and Him. Sometimes, He’s helping us to see Him. Recently, this has been taking place for me as I’ve been consistently overwhelmed with God’s goodness as I reflect upon Alisa and John. But not only these two, but as I consider my past, my family, the ways God has provided for me, the difficulties He’s walked me through. . . and on and on it goes. God's goodness is clear.

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 89:1

One of the places where God has been speaking directly to me about me is through the difficulties I’m experiencing. Whether it’s some of the personal battles I face in putting God first or living out His love in relationships, it is clear that God is speaking to me about me. He is doing it in love, but it is still hard. I am SO aware that God desires to grow me, but growth is painful and often means seeing our places of disobedience, and for me that is most evident in the places of hypocrisy in my life. I claim to follow Jesus, yet there are specific areas where I am not doing what He has commanded me to do. Trials and temptations are definitely opportunities for Satan to get our attention in unhealthy ways, but as loudly as Satan speaks in these times, God has not stopped speaking. What He says and is showing us we definitely need to hear.

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4


God is speaking. Are you listening to your life? Are you open to what He has to say? Are you open to what He desires to show you about Himself, about you, and about the plans He has for you today?

I know not everyone has the chance to go on sabbatical like I will in July. It truly is a gift. But every one of us has the opportunity to take sabbatical from the agendas, schedules, and to-do lists that we create for ourselves. I know that’s easier said than done, but it can be done.

Take time to listen to your life. Take time to allow God to speak into and through the experiences and circumstances you find yourself in. Take time to allow God to speak into and through the joys and difficulties you are experiencing in relationships today. Take time to let God show you who He is, who He is helping you to become, and where He will lead you in this life.

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? Matthew 16:24-26

Listen as God is speaking through your life.

Sins of Omission

I missed something Sunday that I think needs to be addressed. As I was reflecting on this past Sunday’s message, I had a revelation. Well, it really came as a “Oh shoot, Chip, this would have been helpful to address in our conversation on Sin in the Camp.”

We talked about the importance of not hiding. We can’t keep sinning and we can’t have relationships where sin is not addressed. We each have blind spots where we have trouble seeing our own sin (gossip, love of money – for example).

What I failed to address are sins of omission. If God tells us to do something and we don’t do it, we are being disobedient. We sin.

If God says, “love your enemy,” and we don’t do it (with God’s help), it is an act of disobedience.

As I’ve pondered this in my own life, this is where the sin comes to the surface for me. It is in the sins of omission. It is not doing what God has commanded me to do.

It’s interesting, isn’t it, to compare these sins of omission with the common sins we think of. I talked about the sin of pornography last week and there is no question of its impact on those around us. We have no trouble calling this sin. Yet, if compared with a not praying or not meeting the needs of the least of these, we might be tempted to say the sin of pornography is much worse. It hurts more. Does it? Is that really true? Is it true that doing those things we are not supposed to do (gossip, stealing, lying, sexual immorality, etc.) is WORSE THAN not doing those things we are commanded to do (prayer, Bible reading, storing up treasures in heaven, loving our neighbor, giving our time and money away)?

Does it hurt others when I don’t pray, meditate on Scripture, be a poor steward, not love, not give, etc.?

I believe the answer is a definite YES. It hurts others when I am disobedient to those commands that God calls me to live out. When I don’t do what He asks, it not only hurts me, it hurts those around me. It hinders God’s kingdom from coming and being experienced by the people in my life.

So maybe you wrestled with the message on Sunday because you had trouble coming up with your place(s) of habitual disobedience. Does this help to pinpoint those places when you include our sins of omission? It sure helped me. I’m not saying I am enjoying this conviction, but in order to be complete in our understanding of the sins in our camps, I believe we need to include this significant piece of Scripture. God didn’t just tell us what not to do, He was clear on what we are called to do. There is definitely a lot of room for growth when it comes to addressing (only by God’s help & power) my sins of omission. I’ve omitted some of what He’s asked me to do and that needs to change.

Imagine Abraham’s life if he had not gone to the land God would show him – sin of omission.
Imagine Moses’ life if he had not spoken with Pharaoh.
Imagine Paul’s life if he had not proclaimed the Gospel.

You can avoid all the sins of commission (lying, stealing, coveting, killing, cheating, gossiping, etc.) and still have sin guiding your life.

Sin in the camp includes our unwillingness to do ALL that we’ve been commanded to do.

ReJesus - Frost & Hirsch

Here are a few quotes from Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch’s book, ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church.

Jesus is the center of all, the object of all, whoever does not know him, knows nothing aright, either of the world or of himself.

Blaise Pascal in Frost & Hirsch, p. 1

The means to know God is Christ, whom no one may know unless they follow after him with their life.

Hans Denck (1)

Surely the challenge for the church today is to be taken captive by the agenda of Jesus, rather than seeking to mold him to fit our agendas, no matter how noble they might be. We acknowledge that we can never truly claim to know him completely. We all bring our biases to the task. But we believe it is inherent in the faith to keep trying and to never give up on this holy quest. The challenge before us is to let Jesus be Jesus and to allow ourselves to be caught up in his extraordinary mission for the world. (10)

In the same way the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. It says in the Bible that the whole universe was made for Christ and that everything is to be gathered together in Him.
C. S. Lewis (17)

We readily acknowledge that none of us have within us the fortitude, the grace, the courage, and the imagination to actually be like Jesus. It is a lost cause. But it’s a lost cause made worth it by the forgiveness and grace shown us in Jesus’ death on our behalf. By dying for us to set us free from the penalty for our sinfulness, he doesn’t nullify the call to good works and godly living. Rather, he elevates from an endless and hopeless attempt to impress God to a joyful adventure of enjoying Christ’s presence by imitating him. The quest to emulate Jesus isn’t folly. When it’s embraced by those who know they are forgiven for all the ways they will fall short, it is a daring exploit! (17-18)

Through Jesus’ eyes, the church is the sent people of God. A church is not a building or an organization. It is an organic collective of believers, centered on Jesus and sent out into the world to serve others in his name. When we are taken captive by the Nazarene carpenter, we can no longer see ourselves as participants in a similar system to the one he came to subvert. Not only does Jesus undermine temple theology by becoming the temple himself, but also he undermines the sacrificial system by dispensing with sin without reference to ceremonial washings, rituals, or liturgies (“Go in peace, your sins are forgiven”). . . he also plays fast and loose with the legalism of Sabbath keeping. In fact, he subverts the whole religious system. So why would he do that simply to replace it with a Christian religious system? He doesn’t! He is antireligious, offering his followers direct access to the Father, forgiveness in his name, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, to be reJesused is to come to the recognition that the church as the New Testament defines it is not a religious institution but rather a dynamic community of believers who participate in the way of Jesus and his work in this world. (28-29)

We believe that Christology is the key to the renewal of the church in every age and in every possible situation it might find itself. The church must always return to Jesus in order to renew itself. . . Christology must determine missiology (our purpose and function in the world), which in turn must determine ecclesiology (the cultural forms and expressions of the church). (42-43)

When we engage mission only because we feel guilty that we haven’t pleased Jesus and his order in the so-called Great Commission, we satisfy neither Jesus nor our own sense of calling. Rather, says (David) Bosch, mission emerges from a deep, rich relationship with Jesus. The woman whose husband never brings her flowers doesn’t want flowers. She wants him and his devotion. What Jesus is saying to his disciples in Matthew 28 is that little Jesuses will be naturally and normally about the business of making disciples, not to satisfy Jesus’ demands but out of complete devotion for him. (50)

Dallas Willard rightly bemoans the fact that for quite a while now the churches in the Western world have not made discipleship a condition of being a Christian.

One is not required to be, or to intend to be, a disciple in order to become a Christian, and one may remain a Christian without any signs of progress toward or in discipleship. Contemporary Western churches do not require following Christ in his example, spirit, and teachings as a condition of membership – either of entering or continuing in fellowship of a denominational or local church . . . So far as the visible institutions of our day are concerned, discipleship is clearly optional . . . . Churches are therefore filled with “undiscipled disciples.” “Most problems in contemporary churches can be explained by the fact that members have not yet decided to follow Christ.”
(51)

Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (51)

Christianity – (minus) Christ = Religion (68)

. . . But for the disciple, the simple truth must remain; one cannot bolt down, control or even mediate the essential God encounter in rituals, priesthoods, and theological formulas. We all need to constantly engage the God who unnerves, destabilizes, and yet enthralls us. The same is true for our defining relationship with Jesus. It is like the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. They tried to shore up the manna from heaven for another day. Religion can give into the same temptation to try to store up and rely on the souvenirs of a past spiritual experience.

The more one replaces a fresh daily encounter with Jesus with religious forms, over time he is removed from his central place in the life of the church. The result of this removal (by whatever means) is the onset of dead religion in the place of living faith. (70)

On the edge of our seats

(This past Sunday, I encouraged people to ask 5 people to commit to praying for them everyday, and also to offer to pray for the person you ask. I said I might ask the next Sunday if people followed through.)

One of the questions I’ve been receiving this week is, “Are you really going to have people stand up and admit whether or not they’ve asked 5 people to pray for them?”

I’ll interpret what I read between the lines in hearing this question,

“Are you going to ask ME stand up (or not because I haven’t asked 5 people) in front of everyone?”

“I don’t want to do this – it makes me uncomfortable.”

“Who made you the ultimate accountability partner?”

“I don’t like coming to church wondering if I am going to be uncomfortable.”

“I don’t like the feeling of not knowing what could happen on Sunday at church – what I may be asked to do.”

It’s such an interesting tension, isn’t it? Should our Sunday morning worship services be comfortable? Should they be a place we can come and not feel challenged to actually have to do anything that makes us uncomfortable? OR shouldn’t Sunday be a time where we are on the EDGE OF OUR SEATS anticipating God’s presence and conviction?

Should we think Sundays are like hopping in a hot, bubble bath where we are warm and cozy and all our cares seem to drift away?

Or should we anticipate that coming into the presence of God (in this unique, corporate way) will be overwhelmingly good but not comfortable or easy? Can you imagine Jesus saying to his disciples, “Now, is everyone comfortable with me and what I’m asking you to do?” I can’t.

If we expect God is going to ‘show up’ on Sundays and be God that means He is going to speak, convict, call, correct, and confront. He is going to reveal you – what is His about you and what you are still holding onto.

Imagine how God feels/thinks about us when we come looking for him to “fill us up” with love, peace, comfort, good feelings, etc. on Sunday mornings, but yet our lives outside of the church worship service are not acts of worship. We live for us, yet we expect a time of comfort and peace when we come to worship together. Hmmm. That just doesn’t add up. I have no question that God longs for every one of us to experience His assurance and peace. He wants us to trust Him completely that we are not alone, that He has plans, and that we can do that which is impossible because of Him. He wants every one of us to know that and experience that, but it means that we receive what He offers and use it for Him, for the building of His kingdom, for His glory. So when people look at us, they see how good God is.

Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. We are not going to evaluate our worship experiences by how uncomfortable we can make you feel. That’s not the point. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to do the convicting and challenging. But I hope Sundays is a time when you sit on the edge of your seat, because you believe God is there. He is God and he’s there! He is going to speak to you. (He doesn’t just do it on Sundays, but there is something unique about this weekly, “together” experience.) And if God is going to speak, if God is really going to be present in our lives, then we had best not think that it will be comfortable – we best be careful how we really evaluate what happens on Sunday mornings. Because God’s love for you is so great that He’s going to change you – not a comfortable prospect at all, but who God helps us become and how that blesses those around us is exceedingly more valuable than being comfortable. Because so often being comfortable in my life means staying the same and God loves us (me) way too much to let us (me) stay the same. He has so much more for us to experience and become. Let’s move out to the edge of our seat and anticipate (yes, with some fear) that God is going to move.