Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Double Dipping

I'm dumb. I write things on facebook sometimes that could easily be posted on here for those of you who are more likely to navigate this thing than facebook. Here are two recent ramblings of mine:

Best 401k Ever

I have been thinking a lot about the way that we live and share our faith. I think we have been guilty of a fundamental error in thinking. We have treated heaven as the goal of our faith. Think about it. We sing so many songs that talk about getting out of this world and getting a reward. Reward? Is that what it is? Seems to me that someone earns rewards, yet we also say that we cannot do anything to gain salvation. Interesting...

What then? How should we go about faith? Well, I think the answer is simple and one that is often given in jest in Sunday school and Bible classes at ACU: Jesus. Yes, that guy we talk about sometimes. Think about faith like a job. It's not one, it's a metaphor. Don't jump all over the analogy by taking it too far. Why do you get a job? Money, right? The answer is yes. Some of you will start to say fulfillment or purpose, but deep down you know that if the money were not there you probably wouldn't take it. Now, rarely do you start a career or job by thinking about how good the 401k is. The job is started for the paycheck.

Heaven is, by far, the best 401k ever. Forget retiring in Florida, we get to live with the King. Get excited, but stay focused. My question to you is: what's the paycheck? Now, it may be various things but here's what it should be:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God." -Micah 6:8

A relationship with God. We get so caught up in heaven that we forget the real point of grace. Grace was given to us, Christ died for us, not so that we could get into an exclusive (and holy) nightclub. We have been rescued from sin so that we can once again be in communion with God. That is the paycheck.

By all means, keep looking forward to heaven. However, do not let that make you lose sight of the real joy and excitement that comes from knowing and being known by the Creator, the Sustainer, the King, the Parent, the God who loves you.

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This Is Serious

I have been thinking about this for a while and tonight's lesson with the Hillcrest youth finally pushed me to write about it. Our faith is supposed to be serious. The following passage from Luke 9 has stuck with me for a while:

57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

59He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."

62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

This passage seems pretty serious to me. Jesus doesn't seem to be making jokes as these people come wanting to follow him. I think that is the part of this passage that hits me the hardest. These people come to Jesus and say, "I want to follow you," and he basically tells them that they don't have what it takes. Now, I know I'm paraphrasing and probably oversimplifying a little, but when it comes down to it you can't deny that Jesus viewed being his disciple as a serious commitment.

When I look at how I have lived my life for the majority of my 20 years I can't help but feel selfish, whiney, and a poor excuse for a disciple of Jesus. I have loved him, and I have stayed away from doing the wrong thing. So what? I have not loved my neighbor, I have not been salt or light. I have been a good "church kid". I have been part of the family. Yet, as I look at the life of Jesus and see the people that he spent his time with and where he spent most of his time, I see that I have been living a cheap Christianity. I have been playing a game when this is all too real.

We talk about "fighting the good fight", being "soldiers of Christ", and putting on the "armor of God". All of these images are good and the first and last are straight out of scripture. But I don't think that quite gets at what we are called to do.

The battle is over. Victory already belongs to God. We are not fighting, we are not conquering, we are not vanquishing. We are cleaning up.

After every war there is a period of recovery, a time of reconstruction. We are the ones charged with that duty. The war has been decided, but not everyone knows. Many have been left in the darkness in the aftermath of God's victory. How many will we leave there?

Do not take up arms, do not prepare for battle, do not raise the banner high. Go into the chaos of the aftermath of battle and mend broken souls. Care for the sick, the needy, the lost, and the dead. For once you were as they are, but have seen the light and accepted the grace freely offered to all. Above all, love. Love fiercely and gently, love deeply and freely, and love unconditionally.

Why?

Because it will be the difference between life and death.

This is serious.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Worst Blogger Ever...

I know, I know. It's been forever. So much has happened. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I don't want this semester to be over, because that means I am halfway done with college (undergrad anyway). That is gross. Anyway, since it is the end of another semester I figured I would make a list of things I've learned. A top ten list of course.

10. Disc golf is amazing. I don't know how I lived happily before I started playing this sport. It is so much fun. I have made several new friends who I play with a lot. I also enjoy just going out and playing a round or two alone. It's a sport that allows for a lot of meditation.

9. Time management is hard when you become more like Hannah Anderson. I was more involved this semester than I have ever been in my life. Here is a list of all the things I have been involved in (some of these were not all semester long but they sure do make the list look impressive): Officer for Seekers, Creative team member for Seekers, Bible Departmental Chapel planning committee, Minter Lane Youth Volunteer, Minter Lane Worship planning committee, Tutor, Intern for Hillcrest, ACU for Abilene Planning Committee, and had a social life. Busy but awesome.

8. I care a lot less what others think of me. Now I am still aware of others' feelings and do not offend people if I can help it. I have simply begun to be myself instead of the person others want me to be. I don't care if people find out I don't care about sports. I write poetry. I have also come into my own faith more. I do not have to live out my faith the same way as you and that's fine. It's made life a lot simpler.

7. Complaining is for losers. I still complain from time to time, but I try hard not to. People around me always complain about chapel, homework, jobs, etc. Welcome to life. Sometimes we have to do things that we don't necessarily want to, but life is about more than us.

6. My God loves me right now. For the longest time God's love was conditional in my mind. I didn't actually form that thought, but I saw it in the way I treated faith and how I treated others. I focused on my own and others' flaws instead of looking past that stuff to who they really are. I used to treat a relationship with God like it was something that came and went with how holy I was. Now I see that He is with me now, He was with me yesterday, and He will be with me tomorrow.

5. Greek is great. I love it! I have started carrying my Greek NT with me whenever I go to church or a bible study, not to criticize or point out mistakes, but just for me. It gives me a chance to apply my love for languages to my faith. It has been great to be able to share that passion with God whenever I want. Next year I'm going to be taking Hebrew and I cannot wait for what God has in store for me through that and my continuing Greek education.

4. "Garbage in, garbage out" is more true than I ever thought. At a retreat that Seekers performed at this semester one of the speakers gave the standard "get rid of bad music, movies, etc." pep talk. I have heard so many of those in my life and never once listened. So I tried it. I went back to my dorm and did a deep cleaning of my iTunes. That meant deleting a lot of things that I had paid for. That meant giving up watching a lot of junk that was entertaining, but also filthy. Since then, I have noticed that my outlook on life is better, my attentiveness to God has greatly increased, and I am generally less self-centered. The correlation between all of those may not be direct, but suffice to say my garbage intake has been severely reduced.

3. Working with youth is what I love. Even at the times that I am frustrated with church, school, and life in general I always look forward to spending time with the Hillcrest youth. They are a great bunch of kids and in the short time that I have worked with them I have learned so much. I look forward to sharing more of my life and my faith with them and I know that they have so much to teach me. God has blessed me with skills and passion that I am getting to put into practice in new and challenging ways. I love it!

2. Passion is a gift from God. We have a tendency to think of God's will in terms of duty and obligation, but I have come to see that the desires of my heart were given to me by God and the things I have a passion for often help me to grow closer to Him. I love to write, and He speaks to me through my writing. I have a passion for youth ministry and He works through me. Doing what you love is not only healthy, but a part of God's plan for you (unless what you love is stealing things or something).

1. There will never be enough time to do everything you or anyone else wants you to do. I have had to decide between two or three things to do on a daily basis. This used to bother me, but this semester has taught me that it is okay to not do EVERYTHING. I am one person and can only do so much. As long as I do what I do well and with Christ in mind and heart, I'm good.

Well, there you have it. Another semester down.

Until next time, may you be continually reminded of God's love for you. May you come to accept and love yourself the way that God does so that you may love others the same way. May you enjoy life for the blessing that it is. Be cleansed by Christ, filled with the Spirit, and close to God.

Blessings,
Matt