Source: samwon“commission my soul” - citipointe
In the mind of Christians the words “Missions Trip” has very specific connotations where you are out intentionally spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ through your actions and through witnessing; simply being very “evangelical”. It has now become trendy to term everything social justice. I understand that many times using Christian terms can turn people off to the whole idea simply because of the things done under the banner of missions. The instant example coming to mind being the crusades, meant to convert the unbelieving heathens of the world; ended up destroying much of our credibility for centuries. Not to mention the belief that we do the converting is preposterous in the first place.
Social Justice projects will never change anything unless they are truly centered around the TRUE GOSPEL. And that gospel being the fact that we have all fallen short of the grace of God, are all bound by the sins of this world, and it is only through the blood of Christ and repentance that we can be set free. Does knowing this fact alone solve anything? Of course not! Again the world we live in is a fallen place under the bondage of a real enemy. It will only be solved at the end of this age when the Kingdom of God is revealed and all is fully restored.
I want to make it very clear that I think Christians should be leading the charge on many issues facing the world today. For instance extreme poverty, AIDS epidemic, millions of children without a home and so on. But when did leading these charges become god and not as a response to God? The Bible says to Seek First the Kingdom of God. You can argue up and down how it applies, but the simplest meaning of this charge is to first and foremost seek the Kingdom and what it is to live with the mindsets of such a Kingdom.
In this Kingdom, the last shall be first. In this Kingdom the one who loses His life will gain it! In this Kingdom it is God who guides our footsteps not the needs of the people. The idea of find a need fill a need does not apply to this Kingdom. Instead we start with the very basic need of mankind; a sacrificial lamb to set us all free from the bondage that has cursed man since the fall. It is from this that we are compelled, by our love for Christ and what He has done, that we spread the Gospel through our actions!
I can imagine many of us have had conversations a lot like the following…
On a missions trip
Local Person: “Thank you so much for the help you have given us.”
Christian: “No problem, it’s what I love to do.”
Local Person: “Really? Why do you love it so much?”
Christian: “Because I love people.”
Local Person: “How can just loving people compel you to help them?”
Christian: “We are all human and that at some point we all need help.”
Sure I just created this example and I have creative control over the reactions, but how many times have we missed true Gospel sharing moments? Instead of pointing to Christ and how it’s through His grace that we can have freedom; we just beat around the bush and talk in vague and safe terms. Granted it can be hard to take that step, but all it really is is being honest with someone as to why you are helping them! It’s not like this person came up to you and started debating. In this moment this person’s heart is extremely ready to receive the grace of God through your actions you simply need to follow through and explain the why behind the what.
I heard a quote the other day that said something like this “Today Christians pray for safety and for provision; the Apostles prayed for boldness and to be used no matter the cost.” Personally I believe that Christians are some of the biggest perpetrators of injustice by often times never seeking to address the biggest injustice of them all. The injustice of sin and it’s grip on mankind.
As we look at the world we must be called to action; there is no doubt of that fact in my mind. But we must first acknowledge that it is with the understanding that Christ’s sacrifice is our basis for all things. After all, He did not say “go into all the world and solve it’s problems.”
A closing prayer:
Heavenly Father, may we always seek first Your Kingdom and the will You have for our lives and the lives we are to touch. May we always have an open ear to Your Spirit and what You would have us say; when serving those around us through our actions. Forgive us for missing those opportunities to show others who You are and the grace that you have brought through Your Son Jesus Christ. As we respond to the callings we each have, may it be for Your glory and nothing else. Let Your Holy Spirit be our helper not only in those moments but in our every day. With the understanding that we as Christians do not adhere to this world, but to Your Kingdom, we ask You send us where You will, and give us the boldness to stand up for the cause of Christ. May all this be sealed in Jesus’ name, amen.
Kara and I are celebrating our first Christmas as a married couple this year. You might think it would be just like any other Christmas, but truth be told it is quite different. For those of you who may not know; Kara and I are living in New York City; serving in a church plant. Already our lives are very unconventional, especially for newly weds, so it only makes sense that our Christmas would be the same. The thought hit me as I watched Kara open her first set of gifts last night, yes the 16th of December, a full 9 days before Christmas. The funny thing is I wrapped them not 30 minutes earlier and even told her she had to stay in the living room as I wrapped the gift. It was all very funny and very VERY much us.
You may wonder what the point of wrapping the present was in the first place. In everyone there is still something that longs for the unseen. That joy that comes from tearing into the wrapping paper with each piece hoping it’s what you’ve always wanted and have begged for the entire year to get. Even when you are the one giving, the look on the other persons face stirs inside you feelings of pure elation as they discover what they already knew; that you love them. No matter what your thoughts or theology on gift giving as a way to “celebrate” the birth of Christ, you cannot deny the fact that through gift giving we see a small glimpse of the grace God has given to all of us. That glimpse is the smile on that loved ones face that says “You do care”.
This tangible vision of grace has brought me to the realization that the conventional is not for us. As people called to spread the gospel, the conventional idea of life simply will not do. To live within convention would be to give up on the divine inspiration that we have been given.
So with that I leave you with a challenge to live an unconventional life; what a better time to start than Christmas. A time when an unconventional king was born so that all may be free from the bondage that has plagued us for far too long.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GOODS!!!
Something I struggle with is justifying the judgemental attitude I have towards others who are not holding themselves to the “standards” that I am holding myself to. I become self righteous in my view of friends that have seemingly left the faith of their youth. Friends that I truly do not where they stand with God, and instead of asking I simply pass judgement and assume they have turned their backs on God. Even though I am on a journey, I often feel like no one else is. Everyone else is where they are to end up. My journey has been plagued with constant doubt and constant failures, but not anyone else’s. The people around me are not allowed to spit in God’s face even though I do it just as often, maybe not for the world to see, but I do.
Living in a city where everyone is comparing themselves to the person next to them, has taken its toll on my personal life. I forgot that even though I am called to the people, I cannot compare myself or my journey to theirs. The only comparison is to God and His Word. It is hard as someone called to lead Hid people to not want them all to be where I am with God, but our responsibility is only to point them to Christ and let Him do the work in them. Again “He who has started a work in you is faithful to complete it.” The Holy Spirit must be able to work in the lives of believers. Too often we think it’s the person who the Holy Spirit is trying to work in that hold The Spirit back, maybe it’s the leaders around that person. If you are truly sensitive to the Holy Spirit you will know when to stop pushing someone and just let God soften their heart. As a leader you are not the race runners legs you are the coach. You are not their heart you are that voice that encourages them to dig deeper.
The thought that has been driving me this week has been the following. Your calling does not justify judgement. As a person called to leadership, you must remember to count the cost of accepting that call of God. Leading God’s people will cost you rights and freedoms that others will not have to give up. Christ will give you the strength to accomplish the things He has called you to achieve, but rest in that comfort. We must stop thinking we are elite and some how above the rest of the Church and able to judge others based on the fact that God has called us to lead them.
All this to say, remain teachable. There are still mysteries. It is this fact that should push us to deepen our relationship with Christ.
My dad always used to tell me that when I got older that time would go faster and faster as the years went by. When you’re 15 eager to get done with High School, which you just started, you can’t fathom the idea that things could go faster because at that moment in life things are EXTREMELY slow. Now 10 years later I am realizing just how true his statement is. One year ago this month I made the biggest move of my life. I moved to New York City to help with a church plant. With such a noble reason for moving here you’d think that blessings would be falling from heaven at every turn. That I would have a job making millions and have all the time in the world to completely invest in the lives of those around me. Well blessings have been falling from heaven like crazy, they just need a little time to mature.
I got a job the week I moved to NYC in one of the roughest financial environments in history. God provided. I was able to find sublets to prepare for Kara to move out. Again God provided. I have been developing some really great relationships with the people in our church. God has provided all the things that anyone coming out of Master’s Commission could hope for. As you can probably tell by how things traditionally go the tone is about to change a little, or quite a bit depending on how you look at it. It is said that no victory in heaven will go un-challenged from hell. I have come to believe this more than ever in this year living in what at times feels like God’s forgotten land. Financial strains have come and gone and come again. Relationship strife has come and gone and come and gone more times than I can count. I have felt the farthest and the closest to God all at the same time. I have seen God in places where many have feared to bring Him.
Through all the struggles and through all the pain there is one thing that rings true. God HAS NOT forgotten this city. God HAS NOT forgotten His promises to those that have prayed and wept over these streets and these people. New York City has become to me what Rome, Athens, Corinth, etc… were to Paul. I will bring the message of Christ to these people. In this city where people are more apt to believe that a mystical fairy brought everyone from another planet, than to believe that the one true God of the universe cares for them and died in their place so they may be redeemed and made new. My heart has grown soft for a city that prides itself on requiring thick skin to survive in. A little vulnerability in this place goes farther than I’ve ever seen.
I have truly come to know God on a different level since moving here. I know where He is still hurting. I know who people think He is, and who the feel He is not. I’ve seen the Church put on so many belief systems, it’s no wonder people don’t know what to believe about who Jesus truly is. This has truly been an amazing journey and I can’t wait to see what God does in this place through our church and ultimately His Church in this city.
Starting fresh with the blog. I have kept a few posts on here from the past couple years; kinda a best hits collection of sorts. I will also put up a few posts that were on the wordpress site once I’m able to retrieve them. Regardless here is a toast to a fresh start as I celebrate a year in NYC soon.
I had this thought the other day “Is the pulpit for opinions?” It led me to a couple different conclusions which I will get to eventually. Let’s address the general idea first. An opinion can be shaped from many different events, things read, opinions from other teachers; which brings up a whole other discussion about how one person’s opinion can become truth to you thus your opinion. Point being, opinions are like… just kidding. In all seriousness opinions are pieces of information that we can sometimes portray as truth, without ever clarifying how we came to this conclusion. I believe that it is the teacher’s responsibility to the, for lack of a better term, student; to be forth coming if something is not completely a “truth.”
Let me balance a couple things before I really get into this. First off, I am not pointing out a specific occurrence of this that had a direct affect on me; I just had this thought and wanted to figure it out. Of course I can think of many times when I have heard some pastor somewhere say this or that, and thought I don’t think so. With that said don’t get offended, and if you do we can talk about it.
There is this growing movement of people trying to circumvent many convictions that others have. This movement has been called anything from Postmodern to Emergent to down-right heresy. Whatever you want to call it is it a wrong move for the Church. To that I look to the quote “One generation’s heresy is frequently the next generation’s orthodoxy.” Who said this I am unable to find at the present moment, if you know let me know.
Any how, looking to this quote I have a couple thoughts. I have seen this reign true with areas such as music. Fifty years ago you would not have seen such heresies as electric guitars in the church. Yet today if you don’t have them you are seen as old-fashioned and irrelevant. “You don’t get this generation!” some would shout. The bible, of course, is very explicit when it comes to the use of musical instruments for worship. David himself played the harp, the writer of many of the greatest worship songs ever to come from the lips of humankind. The labeling of certain types of music as un-godly by the previous generations was from a place of ignorance and unwillingness to change their ways. Or so that’s how I see it. Wasn’t that an opinion you might ask, yes it was; but in writing this I don’t believe opinions are wrong. I simply want to get the point across that opinions need to be plainly labeled as such. I’m thinking this will be a very long subject and it will be in two or more parts. So let’s call this part 1.
To conclude part one some food for thought. Where do convictions come from in the first place? When does a conviction become the rule? Is it ok to make others pay for your convictions by getting offended when they don’t have the same ones? Let me know your thoughts.
In part two I will further develop these thoughts and more.
There resounds through the halls a loud banging. As the wood rattles and the hinges clang, I awaken. I had just gotten into the rhythm of sleep. That rhythm that you know how it’s going to turn out. You know what your next move is simply because you really don’t have any moves left; you have but only to stay still. In that state of life you can be struck down and not even feel it. Things may go badly, but you are numb to anything because you have no reason to feel.
When awaken out of such a sleep I find myself confused and disoriented. Not sure what is up and what is down, it’s as if I am being awaken for the first time. Everything is new, colors don’t make sense, and I have not yet seen the full picture. I soon get adjusted to the bright lights my eyes have not seen in so long; only to see the biggest monster I have ever seen. There is no way I can conquer this I think. It would take a miracle for me to begin to even match this thing’s strength. I have two options; force and intellect. If I go with force I will surely lose, however if I don’t the reward may seem greater to everyone. On the other hand I know I can win with intellect, and with intellectual victory comes personal rewards that can only come from God.
My dilemma, seen many times throughout history. The great men have always chosen intellect over force. Sure they weren’t popular or seen as great men at the time, but in their very being was this sense of greatness and making a difference. God was truly smiling over them. I wrestle with the thought that I am not like these great men, well so I say. The difference between me and them is that I have not yet conquered my big monster. So i choose. I choose intellect. I beat this thing at a giant game of mental chess, and risk. I have proven that I can make a decision. That I have the answers to the questions “what’s next?” “What is my next move?”. I HAVE a next move! To me this is more joy than any other moment save the moment I met Christ. In fact this moment would not have happened without Christ. My hope is that in this new room of opportunity I will not get caught in the rhythm of sleep and need the monster of routine to come knock down my door. Next time it might be harder to choose intellect over force.
