The Church Has ADD/ADHD

Then on the same day we find two of them going off to Emmaus, a village about seven miles from Jerusalem. As they went they were deep in conversation about everything that had happened. While they were absorbed in their serious talk and discussion, Jesus himself approached and walked along with them, but something prevented them from recognizing him. --Luke 24

The church has been blinded by its busyness and ambition. Our ears are deaf due to the ever-increasing noise of our technology driven lives. The church, like most people in western cultures, has a severe case of ADD; it is activity addicted. No one says anything because much of it is done in the name of Christianity, and if that is the case, then we find ourselves shrugging our shoulders and continuing on.

We are killing ourselves in the name of religion; and we think it’s ok. Just because we believe something is done in the name of God or Christianity doesn’t mean Jesus has anything to do with it. I thought we learned this hard lesson from the European exploration into the Central Americas in the 15th century when natives were forced to accept Christianity or be killed. Or the crusades at the turn of the first millennium where wars were fought and enough blood was mixed with the desert sand of the Middle East to make it look like Cherry Powder in a Lik-M-Stick. The ultimate example is Saul, who thought he was doing God a favor by persecuting all those who belonged to the Way; until Jesus met him one day on a dusty road to Damascu.

Just because we throw a “God” stamp on it doesn’t mean Jesus is involved. Often times it’s simply our own agenda, driven by our ambition for greatness or to fill our insecurities about our own worth.

In college, I dated a girl for five months, three weeks, and two days. Everything seemed to be going phenomenally well; and I thanked God daily for hooking me up with such a quality girl; like an E-Harmony commercial. Until one night she called and asked to talk with me. She went on to tell me that God had told her not to date me anymore; that God wanted her to break up with me. Other than thinking it was 121% horse plop, what was I supposed to say? When you get the God-card played on you, there really is no response, because the ultimate say in all matters is what God decides to do. I told her I thought God told me that we were supposed to get married. She was possessed with an evil spirit. This was my conclusion.

My thought is that we need to think hard and tall about all we do and say. Is it really something Jesus is involved in? How can we know for sure? How can we decide if it’s his leading or just our insatiable need to be noticed and have our name in lights? How much of our activity is born out of our silence and solitude; in our deep communion with Jesus and how much of it is simply getting all hyped up by the latest and trendiest leadership book?

BISCUET

Isaiah wrote:

“Pass through, pass through the gates!
Prepare a way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!
Remove the stones.
Raise a banner for the nations.” Isaiah 62:10 NIV

I guy named “biscuet” has come home from China where he has been living among college students. Biscuet is not his real name, it is a name he has carried with him since the sixth grade where he misspelled the word in a spelling bee. Under the pressure of the bright lights and his academic future, he sounded out the letters, “B…I…S…C…U…E…T.” The infamous response that got him ousted from the tournament and a full ride to Harvard became his nickname which he has carried with him since he was twelve years old. It stuck with him through high school, his time at Auburn University, and has also become the name that a group of Chinese college students call him. I can imagine a mob of dark haired, yellow skin friends chanting “Biscuet! Biscuet! Biscuet!”

The real story of it all is that not only have they come to know the name Biscuet, but they have come to know the name Jesus. And through the process the name Biscuet has become less and less and the name Jesus has become more and more. Biscuet was merely the vehicle that prepared the way for the name of Jesus. A banner has been raised over a nation of millions. On the banner is the name Jesus. It is not Biscuet. And I get the sense that this was his intention all along.

I can’t tell you Biscuet’s real name. I have read though his website (biscuet.com) and couldn’t find it. What I did find often is the name “Jesus” and the word “love” occurs frequently. My conclusion is that this is what he is about and is on the banner that he holds up over his life. What a great thing to be known for: “Jesus.” Way to go, Biscuet!

Still too many hold up the name of their movement, organization, ministry, or church. Others hold up the mission field where they work as if it’s the only place on earth inhabited by people who live in darkness and need Jesus. And with others, Jesus is still held up, but the other names are attached; maybe a little lower—a little higher. I believe this is because deep below the surface, we still want attention; not all of it, but enough of it, enough of it for people to know who we are.

Perhaps we should try a little harder to move off the map. Perhaps the only name we should find joy in proclaiming is the name of Jesus. What a worthy name to put on the banner over our lives.

more on biscuet? www.biscuet.com

A window barely open--thoughts on our month at Windy Gap

Not sure why leaving a month like Windy Gap creates such a hole in the heart; in the soul. Is it the friendships? Is it the tireless work? Is it the work alongside of friends? Is it what we had the chance to see and hear and touch? Is it the rhythm that the assignment life creates? Is it the chance we had to live a different life? Is it the freedom given by the lack of cell phones, iPods, and TV’s? Is it lack of knowledge or concern for world affairs and events? Is it the realization that all that stuff matters so little?

Is it the simplicity of task and of purpose; each person doing their part with all their heart as if doing it for Jesus? It is an orchestra; every person playing their part, putting it all together to form a perfectly sounding piece of music; a perfect piece of art; a masterpiece, painted by Jesus with colors that leave you breathless. It is a story written by the greatest of all writers in which we are allowed to play a part.

Our month at Windy Gap was a window barely opened; opened enough to let in the smell of another land. Opened enough to let the sounds and smells of a far country; a distant land slightly slip in. And in the glimpse-- in the smell of that distant land our hearts leap, because it is familiar, though we have never seen it or been there. It’s the smell and sounds and flashes of home. We are reminded that this world is not our home. We are looking for another eternal city yet to come. (Heb 13:14)

So as you enter back into a distant land; as you have been driven back out into the world; into the wilderness, I know that your heart longs for home. Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s house. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be where I am and you will be together forever. And you know how to get there: follow me; stay close; cling to me, watch closely. I am the way. I will lead you to what is true. I will give you the life that you need and want. I AM. I am all of these things.

Until then you are the light of the world; the salt of the earth. Go and proclaim what you have seen and heard. Tell the story. Lead people back to this place. Let them know that it exists.

Also, remind each other about these things you have seen and heard. Remember! Do not forget all that has played out in front of you. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Remember the wonders he has performed.

Until then, as you wander in a foreign land, be reminded that this is not your home. You are heirs of a kingdom. You will be together forever. You are family.

guilty of love

It perplexes me how such an act of love can bring a firestorm of controversy. The healing of a man with a withered hand in Mark 3 illustrates an example. And because of the healing, the religous professionals plotted how they might get rid of and destroy Jesus. Jesus was crucified for love. He was guilty of loving the unlovable. Love is what put him on the cross; it is what held him there.

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Say So---

Say So—
“And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”—Acts 2.47

Yesterday, we received about eighty new friends into the family; our family—the family of Christ. The church. All these kids stood up at “Say-So” on the last day of camp and gave their name, where they are from, and proclaimed, “this week I believed and gave my heart to Jesus.”

The church increased in number yesterday. Kids who have been wandering in the desert wastelands have been called home. The hungry have eaten their fill and the thirsty have been showered with living water. Souls have been satisfied and filled with good things.

About sixty of the eighty who began their life in Christ this week were Latino kids from inner-city Dallas. Wow! Thank you Jesus for the new people you brought into the kingdom; into our family. We’ll be together one day in the kingdom of God, at the great banquet. And perhaps, we’ll see each other and think back to that summer at Windy Gap in 2009. Greeting one another, we’ll shout, “Remember! Don’t you remember! That summer we met Jesus!?”

What an unspeakable blessing it is to have front row seats to all of this!!

“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” Psalm 107:1-3

the love of Jesus compels me

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all. 2 Cor. 5.14

If we were to do everything as if we are doing them for Jesus, I believe this would make all the difference. Joy would emerge from doing the simplest and most menial task, if done in the name of and for the glory of Jesus. This is true. Paul wrote to the Colossians: “whatever you do, work at it with your whole heart, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

If every activity were done for Jesus instead of for ourselves, it would cause all of our activities to become holy acts of worship. Rather than selfish, they become selfless. If our acts are done as if we are doing them for Jesus, then all things become spiritual, no matter if they are big or small, glorious or menial. Also, it doesn’t matter if anyone finds out if we did them or not since we do them for Christ instead of to be seen by people. A follower of Jesus knows that he does nothing for himself or others. No, he does all things for Jesus, as if every act is done for Jesus alone.

When we live this way, this changes the way we think about everything. All things become different than they once were. Old things become new, worthless things become valuable, and every act ceases to be a task to be checked off and becomes an act of worship.

To see every task, everything we do as an act of worship to Jesus, the most humble and dreaded task can become holy ground. The line between a ‘Christian’ activity and a ‘secular’ activity no longer exists. (It never existed anyway since all things are created by God. This idea of ‘secular’ activity is only an invention of the pious Pharisaical mind.) The scrubbing of pots and pans, cleaning up trash, or changing a diaper is as spiritual as leading a bible study, leading worship, or preaching a sermon.

Too often, we see “Christian” things as more important than the ordinary activities of the day. This view is incorrect. Anyone who sees their task as more important than any other task, just because it is a ‘church’ activity is arrogant. It is the motive that determines the value. Besides, a person can lead a bible study, but if it is to show everyone how much you know or to try to draw attention or glory to yourself, it is empty. If I start a church in order to become popular or famous or just to hear myself talk, it is empty action.

The focus must shift from the activity itself to the reason for doing it, to the one it is done for the first place. I can clean my room with joy if I believe I am doing it for Jesus. I can talk with my neighbor, babysit someone’s children without charging, invite someone over for dinner, help someone fix a tire, cut the grass of an elderly neighbor, or pick up trash on the side of the road with great joy if I do it for Jesus.

You will find there is no lasting joy if you do any act for your own glory, no matter how much attention or applause you get from people.

All things are spiritual. If we can begin to do everything we do with the mindset that we do them as acts or worship, I believe that we will find great joy in doing them.

to love is to live

those who live passionately
teach us how to love.

those who love passionately
teach us how to live.

All things are spiritual

Once we decide to do all things as if doing them for Jesus rather than for ourselves, everything changes. Then all things become spiritual and there is no longer a line between what is "secular" and what is "spiritual." All things are done as if working for the Lord and not for men, and so the motivation for what we do and why we are doing it changes. Furthermore, coaching a little league team is not more spiritual than leading a bible study and washing dishes is not more spiritual than leading worship. Whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord, working at it with all of your heart, because you are working for Jesus and not for men. It is Jesus you are serving. In this way, there is joy in doing any work no matter who big or small or great or hidden.

Pray for Mike Sweeney

a friend of mine on YL staff is battling cancer. Pray with us.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mikesweeney

My goal in ministry is to know Jesus.
My message in ministry is Jesus himself, in whom I trust.
My comfort in ministry is that Jesus is faithful and sovereign. In him all things hold together.