Tag Archives: Relationship

What Would Church Be Like?

January 11, 2010

I wonder what church would be like

if instead of thinking of it as an event on a checklist

we thought of it as family

and Sunday morning was just a reunion of cherished cousins.

I wonder what church would be like

if instead of acting like

church is the place that

once a week

we can shove life aside

sort of

and reconnect with God

kind of

we believed that it is a place

that once or twice or three times a week

we can connect with souls

and share with them the same God

who lives and breathes inside us

twenty-four/seven.

I wonder what church would be like

if instead of noticing everything that’s wrong

and demanding that the church leaders fix it

soon

or I’ll have to find another church

we fixed our eyes on Jesus,

the Author and Finisher of our faith,

Great Physician,

Bread of Life,

source of Living Water,

Prince of Peace,

the Beginning and the End,

the embodiment of Love,

the Great I Am.

I wonder what church would be like

if instead of walking in and saying

“I made it, Pastor, now fill me up…”

we said

“Here I am, Lord, I pour myself out!”

I wonder what church would be like

if instead of wondering

 

I just did it.

 

 

 

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An Open Letter to God

August 16, 2009
When I Ran Into A Brick Wall...
Image by cobalt123 via Flickr

I heard you, God.

I’m not getting it all right yet; I’m still learning. You keep finding ways of getting my attention, and of steering me in the right direction, whether or not it’s where I want to go. Well…where I think I want to go anyway.

I heard you this morning when you asked me when I was going to start getting serious about you, God. My first reaction was, “What do you mean? I am serious about you!”

Then you reminded me that for a long time I said I was serious about my marriage. And I was. But it wasn’t where you wanted it to be. I wasn’t growing and I wasn’t keeping the right priorities. You tried to get my attention more than once, but I brushed you aside, gave you lip service, or ignored you. It took a crisis for me to realize where I was heading and to really get serious about my marriage and my priorities.

It’s still a work in progress, but you knew that. I’m still getting things wrong sometimes, but I’m learning, and I’m working diligently to grow and strengthen my marriage every day.

“See?” I said to you. “I’m serious about my marriage. I listened to you. What makes you think I’m not serious about you?”

Then you reminded me that for a long time I said I was serious about my job and my career. But in reality I was stalled. You gave me talents, and instead of investing them, I buried them. I coasted instead of developing and honing and building those talents to fulfill the potential you put in me to become the best teacher I was capable of being. It took some serious challenges before I looked up and noticed how you were trying to get me to pay attention.

I still have a long way to go, but you know that better than I do. I still make mistakes, but I’m working on them and I take seriously the responsibilities you have put in my hands.

“So, God, what’s your point?” My self-righteousness began rising as I talked to you. “You got my attention. I listened. Twice! I turned things around and I’m moving forward now. I do take you seriously.”

Then you reminded me that my relationship with you is not about fixing my mistakes or becoming a better person or even being a great teacher, father, or husband. It’s first about knowing you. The other stuff comes afterwards.

So much of my thinking still needs adjustment. How many times have I treated you like you’re an afterlife insurance salesman? Pay the regular premiums, pray the prayers, confess the sins. But who thinks about their insurance in between the annual payments? How often have I acted like serving the church or serving my family is the same as serving you? I see now that I’ve just been wading ankle deep at the shoreline instead of diving into the ocean.

So finally you asked me a simple, pointed question: “Do you really want to wait for the catastrophe to strike before you finally start to take me seriously?”

Well, I’m still learning, so I can only promise you that while I’m going to take you seriously now–really take you seriously–I’m also going to mess this up at some point. Probably more than once.

But God, I hear you.

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Not Just for Sunday School Any More

January 11, 2009

If you follow my professional blog, you’ll know that I did an interesting project with my class this week. We explored comments left at the website 1000 Things That Matter by people around the world, analyzing them to see if there were any patterns or recurring themes. Besides the academic results, I was struck by how the students’ analysis exactly mirrored scriptural principles.

Let me first say that there was no mention of religion, God, or the Bible during our discussion, and the web site had comments from a very broad variety of people. In fact, there was only one comment that overtly mentioned God, and I actually left that one out of the list I gave to my students.

The first group I worked with was second and third graders. I had absolutely no preconceptions about where the discussion would go, but as they discussed their observations, I started to see that there were some themes running through the posts. I was curious if the students would notice them.

As they wrapped up their study, I asked them to name the common themes they saw. I was amazed as they named, in this order:

  • Love
  • Joy
  • Peace

I’m certain that the class had no idea they had just named the first three Fruits of the Spirit.

They also identified “Relationships” as a fourth theme, something which I believe any reader of scripture would agree is an essential part of being a Christian.

A couple of thoughts occur to me as I ponder this. One is how scripture may seem irrelevant or out of date to someone who isn’t familiar with it, yet when they are asked about what matters most to them, they name the things that the Bible also describes as priorities.

But even more than this is how so many people—and I should include myself in this—desire the same fundamental things and work so hard to achieve them in their lives. They just want better relationships, to love and be loved, to enjoy life, to live in peace. All they are missing is the only thing that can make them a reality: a relationship with God. Scripture is very clear that these are not things we are entitled to, and they are not things we will ever accomplish on our own. They are all a result of allowing the Holy Spirit to live in us, work through us, and change us.

I think this can also be an encouragement to those of us who are reluctant to share our own faith with others. Maybe one way to approach it is to start by asking them what matters most to them. Then you can introduce them to the one who can provide it.

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Who Do You Follow?

December 7, 2008

Follow JesusI’m a big fan of blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Through them, I’ve been able to expand my “PLN” (Personal Learning Network) and connect with interesting people around the country and the world who share my profession and interests. The conversations I’m having enrich my life and stretch my thinking on a fascinating and eclectic variety of topics.

As I get to know new people through the Internet, most of whom I’ve never met in person, I’m realizing that just as with face to face relationships, there are levels to the connections I have with people, and there are parallels to my relationship with Christ.

  1. I subscribe to their blogs. These are people in my network who I know have ideas that reflect my own point of view, or who can challenge my perspective in ways that grow me. They have no idea who I am, and on a given day I may read what they write or ignore it, depending on time and my mood.
  2. I comment on their blogs. These people have ideas that resonate with me to the point that I want to respond. They are now aware of me, but they may or may not respond back, and from their point of view I’m likely just one of a crowd of people who make up their audience.
  3. I follow them on Twitter. I’m intrigued enough by these people that I want to know more of the experiences, conversations, and raw thinking that eventually lead to the more thoughtful and polished blog posts. These glimpses into daily life give an interesting perspective, too, and help me to see more of the context around their blogs.
  4. I engage them in professional conversation. Through Twitter and blog comments, I pursue a two-way conversation about topics of mutual interest. We respond to each other and generate discussion that extends and expands over time.
  5. I engage in personal discussion. These are people who I have let into a more exclusive corner of my world, and who have invited me into theirs. We know and care about the little details, not just the big ones.
  6. We seek each other out. These are the people who are always on my radar. They are the ones whose Tweets I specifically look for, whose blog posts I make a point to read daily, and with whom I won’t hesitate to share when something interesting happens to me. These are the people I will go out of  my way to help and to celebrate with.

There are people who subscribe to Jesus’s blog—they attend church, maybe even read the Bible—but that doesn’t mean they know him, and there is certainly no relationship to speak of. Then there are those who comment on that blog: they shoot up the occasional prayer, hoping that the comment will make it through the spam filter and wondering if the blogger even reads all the comments that come in.

Of course, there are plenty of Christ followers. In Twitter, you can follow someone simply by clicking on the Follow button. Click, done: they’re in your list, and now all of their tweets come into your personal collection. Following Jesus really is that easy. Ask, done.

The problem is, too many people are satisfied to stay there. It’s not what God wants. The whole point of discipleship is to take us deeper, to bring us to the point where we converse and eventually seek each other out. If I’m honest with myself about my own relationship with God, it’s probably closer to the Follow level than it is to that deepest level.

But when I consider this long enough, I come to an amazing realization. I didn’t suddenly come to God’s attention by clicking that Follow button. Christ was on my list of followers long before I was on his—in fact, long before anyone else was even on my list. God has followed me from the day he created me, and he has patiently sought me out. It’s not up to me to somehow say something relevant or witty enough to get his attention. I already have it. I just have to listen and engage in the conversation with him, open my whole life up, and seek him out, to develop the depth that he desires.

@jesus Welcome to my PLN. Thanks for following me! Sorry it took me so long to return the favor. I guess we have some catching up to do...

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True Contentment

April 10, 2008

intuitions and my museHow many truly contented people do you know? How many people are in your life about whom you could honestly say that they have everything they want and need? Someone who never says, “I’m not satisfied with only what I have—I want what they have”?

I don’t know anyone like that, but if I did, I’d want what they have!

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