Godgrown

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  Mark 8:27 am on March 8, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  A “Risen, Indeed” Smile 

  

  This morning at BOBS I ate with an elderly black man who had one of those curious grins on his face. You never get tired of seeing a smile like that – its the kind of smile that says, “He is Risen, Risen Indeed!”

  He told me of his difficult, tumultuous life in Abilene during the ’60′s when integration was sweeping through West Texas. He talked about being afraid to go to the grocery store, for fear of not knowing if he’d come back. I could hardly believe it. He talked about watching a woman committing suicide and having to just walk by for fear of “looking like he was involved”. This man grew up in a life that was constantly scrutinized and looked on with suspicion from the racial majority.

  After coming home, I read the story of Israel as slaves in Egypt. I thought about the plight of the Israelites, and the plight of my new friend. Both have seen the struggles, both have had to hide from the “superior” race. But you know something? I’d wager that both know that smile – that “Risen, Indeed” smile.

  What might happen if we all understood that we too are oppressed? What if we all saw our oppression, distraction and attacks not as a means for becoming cynical of the world and its people, but rather as an opportunity to rise above to find that resurrection smile living inside each of us. And when it breaks out – when it truly erupts from within – nothing can ever take you back to the mire of self-pity you were wallowing in. Suddenly it doesn’t matter what your circumstances, you have found victory!

  This man this morning found victory, and all I want to ask him is where to find it.

  

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    Agent B 11:13 am on March 8, 2007 Permalink

    Good stuff.

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  Mark 12:36 pm on February 9, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Articles ( 50 )   

  Creating a Space where the Truth can be Practiced 

  “To teach is to create a space where the truth can be practiced.” – Parker Palmer

  Right now in Iraq, Baghdad University is learning the importance of teachers creating special spaces for their students. Right now only 30% of BU’s students show up for classes and many who show up for class are so afraid that little learning can actually take place. Teachers are being threatened not to show up to teach, and many have abandoned their posts. Anyone involved in professional development must lie about their business in Baghdad in order to sneak through patrolled road blockades.

  Teachers’ main job according to Palmer is to create a special kind of space. A space where the truth can be practiced. This space has been threatened in Iraq, and now the country faces a world without professionals or educated leaders. But what does a space “where the TRUTH can be PRACTICED” actually look like?

  This is the kind of space that I am looking for. As a man who desires more than anything else to see people formed in the image of Christ our Lord, I am thinking hard about this definition as a platform for understanding how discipleship happens.

  Churches for years have done a great job with getting people to a point where they make a decision for Jesus – raising their hand at the end of a sermon, praying a “sinner’s prayer” or even coming forward to repent and be baptized. All of those things are merely stones on the path toward full maturity in Christ – something we’ll never fully see in anyone this side of heaven.

  We all need to be given space to grow into that form that Christ has shown us. Yeast grows to fit the container it is placed in. Could it be that our huge church facilities are still too constricting? Are they keeping Christ-followers from reaching their God-shaped potential?

  I think that in the context of discipleship and “mission” work, The definition looks more like this:

  “To invite others to Christ’s abundant life is to create a space within hearts, marriages, and spiritual communities where the Truth can be practiced.”

  We need time each day to practice the Truth, (Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life). In our own personal way, we need to know how we connect with the Lord and discover how he is shaping us. This does not mean we have a “quiet time” every day with our devo-Bible dusted and ready to go. It might mean biking in the woods, getting ice cream with God, reciting Scripture as you wash the dishes, a vow of silence, reading poetry, or whatever your heart cries out for.

  Our marriages need space to practice the truth. Katrina and I wrote a simple statement that has been a guiding voice in our marriage since the beginning. “To live a life of God’s JOY with each other by building an environment that will spur the other on toward a more spiritually-formed life influencing others to grow in the love of Christ.” Maybe it sounds cheesy to you, but we’ve made it a point in every place we’ve lived to create a spiritual space where we can be formed by the Spirit in personalized ways that bring us great joy. It has been amazing!

  Our churches and spiritual communities need space within relationships to invite people to practice this truth. I’m not talking about physical space necessarily, but space within the hearts and wills of the people to practice what they know to be true. Feeding the homeless together, visiting the elderly, adopting an unwanted child, cleaning up a city park, praying the Lord’s prayer together each week…

  Imagine what our world — YOUR world — would be like if you lived knowing that your heart was GOOD and that the things that brought you great joy actually brought God great joy and that he is interested in sharing in that joy with you?  It all starts with a little yeast.

  

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    Jonathan 8:19 pm on February 9, 2007 Permalink

    Mark,
    I’ve read Parker Palmer’s book, “To Know As We are Known.” Probably one of the most powerful reads for me this last year.

    Thanks for bringing his principle into reality. Is it Richard Foster who talks about disciplines being the creating of space in which God can move and work in our lives, or is it Nouwen? I can’t remember.

    Thanks for your words today. Grace and peace.

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  Mark 5:27 pm on December 14, 2006 Permalink | Reply  

  Eyes Wide Open 

  I had another one of those pump-you-up kind of conversations just a few days ago. You know the kind that you have in the midst of a “none of this is going right” kind of situation?

  Chris and I have been worshipping together as part of a church for most of the semester now. It’s been difficult to get to know Chris, because we both live such frenetic lifestyles, and are invested deeply as students. He and I have had several chances over these past few months however to sit down and discuss our lives and what it means to be a vibrant family of Jesus.

  Our little faith family of about 10 has been meeting now for just about one full year. In that year we have gone from just me, my wife, and one of my closest friends, to a broader and much more diverse family. Among us as we worshipped have been students, adults, little kids, the poor, the rich, the lost, the saved, alcoholics, foreigners…the mix has been great and we have loved it. And we have hated it. It is the business of seeing community as the real people you’re living with, rather than the ideal world we all tend to live in.

  Bonhoffer’s great quote, “He who loves community, destroys community” could not have been made more real than in my own heart this year. I wanted so badly for our church to move beyond the superficiality that we as Americans all struggle with. Many of us wanted this, but Fear and Anxiety kept us from digging deeper.

  So as Chris and I sat in his truck, discussing where our little family in Christ will go as we move into the New Year, it hit us. “It all comes down to opening our eyes.” Unless we have open eyes, we’ll never be able to see the hurt inside our brother or sister and name that for what it is. Unless we look with eyes wide open, there’s no way we can think about church outside the box of what we’ve grown up knowing. Unless our hearts truly desire the change from community-as-program to community-as-life-in-Christ, we will continually neglect and ultimately destroy each other.

  Jesus seemed to be okay with people not getting it – though he didn’t let them get away with it! He was constantly drawing people out of their own selfish circles and into a world where they could learn to love others more deeply. A world where God was the center, and everything else flowed from that.

  Lord, I want to see. I want to see you at the center. I want to see you at the center of our simple, little church.

  No one can make someone desire something they don’t internally desire. (Believe me, Trina just doesn’t seem to get as excited about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as I do, no matter how much I try to convince her how cool they are!) For those who are ready to commit to being a family together, I am ready to go deeper. For those not interested, I bless them and send them. Not everyone has what it takes to face the brutal world of life together.

  This means some big things for my life. It means a major reorienting of my lifestyle. I had planned on another very full semester this spring. It may be that I could learn more outside the classroom from my brothers and sisters. I had planned on continuing on in this life of isolation without much getting in my way; looks like that’s going the way of the dodo bird. I had thought I would get to Chicago before discovering community…maybe I’m supposed to find it right here in the desert of West Texas.

  I love community – but I love my church family more.

  

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    miller 1:21 pm on December 15, 2006 Permalink

    its a rocky road bro.

    but its worth the trip

    for what its worth,

    yours seems to be a common struggle

    peace