Godgrown

Updates from February, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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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.

  
   
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  Mark 10:24 am on January 24, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Piles of Money 

  Isaiah 60 is all about the economic development of Jerusalem as they begin to return from exile.  The promises of vast, global wealth are almost unbelievable for a pitiful, beaten nation who doesn’t even have a wall of protection built around its perimeter…and at least for the rest of Biblical history, there was never any major comeback for the Jews; they were more or less passed from one roaring empire to the next.

  So what’s with all the predictions on incredible influence and wealth? Did God “over promise and under deliver?”

  There are hints of this prophecy fulfilled; specifically when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:11) Somehow I don’t think that the exiled Jews of the 5th Century BCE were satisfied with this interpretation – they wanted piles of money! They wanted the honor and recognition of the nations!  ”The flocks of Kedar!  The rams of Nebaioth!  The camels!  Where are my camels?!”

  I wonder if this is how Christians understand their relationship with God.  They sense that there is a pile of blessings, maybe even actual money, waiting on the other side of a “right relationship with God.”  They think that if they love God hard enough, if they believe the right things, if they just do it all right, then they’ll have life right where they want it.

  Trouble is, life is never quiet as we want it – but its right where God has it. He has sprinkled the fulfillment of his promises to bring blessings to his people from the far corners of the earth – he does it in the birth of Jesus; secretly, and its just enough money to keep a family of three out of the cold and filthy stables and enough to get them down to Egypt, where they can safely escape disaster.

  THAT is the blessing of God…the wealth of heaven.

  Yes, wealth seen in the light of God’s nature is not something that we can put in a bank account, but something that gives us another chance to dive deeper into him – knowing that we may not have enough to survive on our own, but plenty to keep following…for one more day.

  But why would God make all these promises of very specific assets that exiles would gain from as they returned to the holy land of Jerusalem?  I think its important to remember that each of us come to God for personal, selfish reasons.  God knows this, he loves you for it – and he wants you to know that the things you care about are important to him too – even if he sees how short-sighted they are.

  So he’ll help you get out of debt if that is something you see as important – and then he’ll remind you that you’ll always be in debt to him.  He’ll help you with as much worldly wealth as he’s called you to…then he’ll call on you to give it all back to him…

  In other words, our tangible gifts are only whispers of the real gifts he hopes to give us. The question is, can we let go of the tangibles in order to receive what truly matters…?