Driving School

I got a ticket.  I rolled through a stop sign on the way to one of our church's monthly prayer meetings (a little ironic, huh?), and the sheriff was sitting and waiting to bust me for it.  I was guilty as charged, and there was no denying it.  A very expensive mistake.

Having gone to the courthouse to pay my fine, I was given the choice to take a point on my driving record (and a higher insurance rate) or pay some money to take a course of traffic school.  Traffic school, here I come!

I chose to do an online course, and it was a pretty painless process.  A few hours of reading and some quick tests - no problem. 

Wouldn't you know it, what started as a way to avoid paying higher insurance payments actually ended up helping me refocus as a driver.  So much of the information that I read was uninteresting or familiar, but, taken as a whole, the traffic school course helped remind me how important it is for me to be serious and careful as a driver.  I habitually take control of a massive machine that I control at high speeds in close proximity to other massive machines moving at high speeds.  This all becomes very familiar and comfortable after awhile, and it's easy to forget how significant it all really is.  My fellow drivers and I make life and death decisions every day, and often don't think much about it. 

How much more important is this principal in living life?  Don't we all need some disciplined times of being retaught, reminded and refreshed about how urgent and significant living really is?  Every human being who wakes up in the morning is used to living life.  We go about our business, we interact with other people, and we make it to the end of the day when we lay down to rest before we wake up and do it all again.  Familiar.  Comfortable.

Ah, but then we sit down and read or listen to the Word of God.  We meditate on the real and actual significance of what living is.  We hear and think about what our Master said regarding the supremacy of God's kingdom and the immeasurable worth of other human beings.  What routine does to dull our senses and lure us into complacency is shattered by sacred moments in disciplined and concentrated learning from our Master through His Word, His Spirit and His Body (the Church). 

Take time, brothers and sisters, to be reminded what life and living are really all about.  Think carefully and seriously on the significance of your role in God's universe and kingdom.  Let Him remind you about the vastness of His love and the immensity of that other person's worth and importance.  Cherish the gift of His truth that is constantly available to you.

Dull and complacent just won't do.  Laziness and sloppiness are ridiculously out of place.  After all, we're disciples of the most purposeful and intentional human being of all: Jesus of Nazareth.  We want to be just like Him.   

Losing, But to Whom?

I just read a very sobering article about the growth of various religions in the U.S. from 2000 to 2010.  You can read it here:

The Fastest Growing Religion in America Is...

After reading this article, there are several reactions a disciple of Jesus might have:

1. Competitive disappointment.  "Our group is losing!"  "Their group is winning!"  As natural as this reaction is, it is completely out of place and improper for God's holy people.  We aren't in competition with other religions for numerical dominance.  The truth is, we're not hoping to outdo any groups; we're working to see all people transformed and rescued through the power of the gospel.  If all other religious groups were growing at a slower rate than orthodox Christian groups, would we have cause to celebrate?  Not necessarily.  We should be less concerned with how fast other religious groups are growing and more concerned with how fast the gospel's influence is spreading.  If Christianity were only growing at a 1.7%  (as in the "Evangelical Protestant" case), but Islam were declining at a 1% rate, would that be a victory for us?  No!  No matter what labels people wear, if they're not coming to embrace Jesus through the gospel, they're still cut off from true life with God now and forever.
     We're not ultimately competing with other religious groups; we're waging war against every message that deceives and distracts people from the liberating and life-giving gospel of Jesus - religious or otherwise.  As other groups lose members, it does not necessarily follow that the Kingdom of God is gaining citizens.  Ultimately, there are only two categories to be concerned about: those embracing the gospel of Jesus and those rejecting it.

2.  Discouragement or hopelessness.  I very much wrestle with this reaction.  To think that so many of those who are already born don't understand or don't embrace the gospel is bad enough, but throw in the idea that more people are being born every day and the task seems overwhelming!  How can the churches of Jesus hope to lead to so many to an understanding of the truth that can save them?
I don't even need statistics to face this feeling.  I just look around me as I drive or walk around my neighborhood, city, or local grocery store, and I am struck by the immensity of the work.  "Master," I often pray, "how can we do this?" 
     There is no simple answer that I've received, but the Master does speak words of hope over me as I read this:

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  (Matthew 9:35-38)

 Jesus faced the immensity of His own task with patience and confidence.  He had a great urgency to His work, an amazing diligence, but not discouragement or hopelessness.  As I strive to become like my Master, I must constantly meditate on His ways. 

3. Urgent motivation.  This seems to me to be the most appropriate response to information such as this article provides.  Moving passed the numbers and realizing that they represent real people with eternal value who must face some kind of eternity, I am compelled to consider what more I and my church family can do to change the momentum.  I am compelled to pray more earnestly, to think more missionally, to speak more openly and to walk more righteously. 
    How are these religious groups growing?  By birthrate, of course.  This is a considerable factor.  Yet, there has to be more to it than that.  Someone will convince others that his/her claim to truth is correct.  Will it be those who know the Way, the Truth and the Life, or will it be those who know a deadly perversion of the truth?  This isn't a matter of "us vs. them", but of life and death, light and darkness, eternal joy and eternal misery.
     I am reminded as I read this article that our Master intends for us to make disciples of all people groups (Matthew 28:19) and to open people's eyes,"turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Jesus]" (Acts 26:18).

     So then, whatever denominational label you wear as a follower of Jesus, if you love God and those created in His image, join me in prayerfully and earnestly seeking the Lord of the Harvest so that we and others He will send can take our charge seriously and advance the kingdom of God!

Temporary Residents

In my Bible reading last night, I was reading 1 Peter in the HCSB.  This version renders Peter's reference to his audience as "temporary residents".  Other translations have "strangers", "sojourners", and "exiles".  Surely this reality is the inspiration for the lyrics, "This world is not my home; I'm just a' passin' through."  We are a part of a kingdom that is not of this world but from another place (John 18:36).  We are citizens of the kingdom of God - what Matthew called the kingdom of heaven.  Notice Matthew did not write about the kingdom in heaven, but of heaven.  Heaven, in Matthew's language, was the source or point of origin of the kingdom that was appearing on earth.

So then, Jesus the Messiah and John the Baptizer announced the coming of a kingdom that has Heaven as its capitol but has invaded the tangible earthly reality where you and I live, work, play and eat.  There is a true manifestation of God's effective rule over the people of planet earth.  The kingdom of God is truly among us (Luke 17:21).  If we become full citizens of this kingdom because God "has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves" (Colossians 1:13), then it makes perfect sense that we should forfeit everything related to our citizenship in the earthly kingdom of the evil one.  We've died with our King to the basic principles of this world, so why should we live like we are beholden to them anymore (Colossians 2:20)? 

We have to live like we understand our temporary residence here on the present planet earth.  While it's true that we're going to "inherit the earth", we understand that the earth we're destined to inherit is the new earth that is the promised home of the righteous (2 Peter 3:13).  We haven't been promised an inheritance in this temporary world, and so we do not expect one.  No, we're like our forefathers in the faith who "admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth", who were "looking for a country of their own", and were "longing for a better country - a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:13-16). 

Empowered and liberated by a true view of our lives and our true destiny, we're able to endure all kinds of trials joyfully, to be self-controlled (or "serious" as the HCSB has it), to set our hope fully on the grace to be given us when Jesus Christ is revealed, to refuse to be conformed to the evil desires we had when we lived in ignorance, and to be holy in all we do just as our God is holy (1 Peter 1:6-16).  We're able to love those who despise us, pray for those who injure us, give more than is asked of us and always seek others' best.  We're able to walk by faith and not by sight, worship in spirit and truth, embrace what we cannot touch, behold what we cannot see, and listen intently to what we cannot hear.  Understanding our temporary residence in this visible, tangible world, we can truly be those who love and believe in a man we have not seen and do not see.  Even still, we fully expect to see Him soon and have placed all of our hope on what He'll bring to us on that day.

Live simply, Disciple.  Hold loosely what you enjoy here.  You're on assignment, and the Master may change the assignment at any time.  It is His estate, after all, and His kingdom.  You're playing a role that He's called you to play, doing work that He's gifted you to do.  The world is beckoning you to dwell on virtual, fictitious and hollow things while you're here.  You must ignore the sirens' call and heed your Master's voice instead.  He may not always speak as loudly, but He does speak as constantly, and He can be heard.  Be still and know that He is God.  Quiet yourself and seek to understand Him.  Submit your physical senses to the new and living heart of faith He's planted in you.  The language He speaks is the language of faith, and you, Kingdom Citizen, have been given the power to understand Him through the gifts of His Word, His Spirit and His Body (the church).  Embrace them, and, in so doing, embrace Him.