Godgrown

Updates from April, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Mark 7:24 am on April 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Not Complex, Just Difficult 

  A friend of mine recently mentioned,

  “The solutions to the biggest problems in life will not be complex, only difficult.”

  This is SO true.

  When we look at the brokenness of our world, from the savage violence in Libya to a father abandoning his family to cling to his drink, you get the sense that things are very, very wicked – and turning this burning ship around will require more than well-crafted policies or enticing tax incentives.

  There is no law that will make me love my neighbor as myself.  There is no external motivation that brings me to my knees in prayer.

  We have been trying to end poverty, war, hunger, homelessness, spousal abuse, gang-violence…well, the list goes on and on.  The evening news shows begins each night with “Good evening…” then tells you all the reasons in the world why it isn’t!

  But that’s not the end of the story –

  The solutions to the world’s biggest problems…to the biggest problems in your own life… are not complex rules or well-managed institutions…no, they are quite simple…they are just difficult.

  It is not a matter of the head figuring out the solutions – it is now down to a matter of the heart.

  Can we trust our neighbor?

  Can we love them?

  Can we forgive them…and ourselves?

  Can we love our family as God loves them?

  Can we offer troubled youth a place in our family before they are sucked into the vortex of a gang?

  Can we rend ourselves of our wealth so that urban food deserts disappear?

  When Jesus quoted, “There will always be poor among you,”  he was hoping that his disciples would be convicted by what was obviously an ironic and tragic reference to Deuteronomy 15:4-11, The text begins: “There should be no poor among you…” Is Jesus misquoting Scripture?  Is he confused?  No – he’s making a point; that the end of poverty comes not with well-crafted laws of tithing, but by overcoming one’s self-centered selfishness.  ”There will always be poor among you,” was a rebuke of the disciples.

  “Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” (Deut. 15:11)

  Did a command do the job? Did that verse end poverty at the stroke of a pen (or chisel as it were)?  No – there were plenty of people in Jesus’ day that were poor – thousands of years after the Law of Moses was written.

  Jesus knew this problem, like so many others in his world, and in our world today – can only come from overcoming the most difficult hurdle in the world — the human heart.

  

  Jay is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Jay 5:14 am on April 22, 2011 Permalink

    Life would be easier if I could disagree with you.
    The comfortable interpretation that says — since they will always be there what’s the rush, why bother, nothing can really be done about it, Jesus said so — just doesn’t cut it. If he was rebuking his poor disciples, what would he say to us with our opulence?

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  Mark 11:50 am on February 26, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Churches that are Dying to Follow Jesus 

  What might it look like for a church to live like Jesus?  Even as difficult as that question is, its not nearly as difficult as the next question: “What might it look like for a church to die like Jesus?”

  Many churches put a lot of emphasis on the first question – but few churches are willing to ask the second question.  As we consider the nature of the church – as we imagine the organic structure of Christ-centered community; could dying, the tangible end of a congregation’s life, actually be a central part of the mission of God?

  I’m going with “yes” on this one.

  I had a friend once tell me that the main reason why he can’t suffer the church, even if Jesus had some good things to say, is because the church as an organization is fundamentally opposed to the aims of Jesus.  My friend’s problem with the church is that while Jesus propelled himself toward death, churches generally want to stay alive as long as possible - often to the detriment of what Jesus originally died for!

  But what if your church saw an opportunity to help contribute to the mission of God that was so powerful, so important – that it was willing to clean out the bank, sell the property, and “die” in order to see the mission provided for?

  What might dying like Jesus do for the mission Jesus died for?  What new life might be resurrected?

  As we head into the Easter season – ask yourself, as your faith community to “come die with Jesus” (Bonhoeffer).  It may just be what leads to a harvest of new life. (John 12:24)

  

  Mark W, Steve Caballero, and Travis are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Travis 4:38 am on March 1, 2011 Permalink

    So can I just say that this is so true, both in the institutional and organic sense of the word “church?” I’ve seen institutional churches hang on by way of “life support” that would have been better to die and sow their buildings, people, and budgets into new Kingdom works. I’ve seen organic churches afraid to let go of close relationships in order to follow Jesus into multiplication and harvest.

    The key word here is death. None of us like it. All of us are trying to avoid it. It’s scary looking at it from this side. If only we knew someone who has gone through it and it turned out okay for them….

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    Mark W 4:04 pm on March 1, 2011 Permalink

    Wow…if death is what we fear…whether it is a small house church or a giant mega church… or even my own personal life… then the next question is, “Do I actually believe that Jesus has given us power over the fear of death?” Am I still too afraid to live in victory as a part of the resurrection; part of God’s in-breaking Kingdom?

    What would it look like to be a member of a church that he been through death, burial, and resurrection?

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    Steve Caballero 12:16 am on March 9, 2011 Permalink

    Hitting very close to home as we wrestle with why a campus of our home church had to close. On the material world it was finance related. In Jesus’ world it was just part of His plan. We accept it as that and move on to make a difference with what we learned while we were open here in the material world. Spiritually we never stop being a church even if the building and location go away.

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    Mark W 10:05 pm on March 9, 2011 Permalink

    Death is never easy, or fun. I’m certainly no ecclesiastical-sadist or anything…but I do think that death can be “healthy” or “unhealthy” – done right, a church can leave a legacy and help contribute to the Kingdom of God. So often, we fight to hold on to life as long as possible, and we hurt our chances to display Jesus’ death in our church’s death. Steve – thanks for your honest thoughts.

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  Mark 12:34 pm on January 29, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Control 

  The American Dream says that you can shape your own destiny – but it seems Isaiah, and other prominent writers in the Bible, say someone else makes us who we are:

  64:8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father.

  We are the clay, and you are the potter.

  We all are formed by your hand.

  So are we able to make our own future?  Or are we simply chiseled into being by a force greater than us?

  Let’s start with birth – you didn’t exactly ask to be born, but here you are.  You didn’t have much say in your hair or eye color, or the color of your skin…but here you are nonetheless.  But what about other factors – your intelligence?  Your social status in life?  Your income?  The health of your marriage?  Your own death?  All these things get a little hazy when it comes to your real control.

  We like to think we have control over our lives – in fact, in America, we’ve made that priority 1 — “Safety first!” they always say.  We have scuttle home from our jobs in little boxes and slip unnoticed into a garage and pull the door down behind us.  We lock our doors, and update our privacy settings on Facebook.  We want to control what influences us – of course, this is not all coming from an unhealthy place – but it quickly engenders a sense that I am in complete control – and anything that established itself as an unwanted negative influence should be worked at removing; because I am in control.

  The ancients had a good sense of balance when it comes to such things.  Proverbs really pushes the idea life is what you make it – that doing good work will yield good results.  Ecclesiastes might be the other extreme, that “everything we do is meaningless!”

  And finally, Isaiah – a book and a prophet who had seen so much – the end of the Israelites, the exile, slavery, and the return of a beaten, demoralized people.  He knows there are certain things we can’t “buckle up” for in this life – that safety cannot always come first.

  It is in these moments we remember that we are completely out of control – that we are the satellite spinning wildly around a much bigger Center. That we are clay in someone else’s hands.  This can be frightening…or it can be liberating!

  It all depends what kind of Potter is in control.