Kingdom Experiment | Millennial Christianity

December 19, 2011

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake…

Its hard to write about persecution when you’ve never been persecuted. When I wake up in the morning, I am not afraid for myself and my family being brutally beaten or killed for following Jesus. In fact, persecution is the last thing on my mind. Many of us are more concerned about having a good day for Jesus than dying for him; being more blessed than cursed; and making sure we’re getting the maximum output of Christianity, while doing the bare minimum in our faith. Persecution to American believers are: atheist getting upset at crosses being all over the place, people getting upset over us saying Merry Christmas rather than Happy Holidays, or worse, having the wrong political party in office. Lets be honest with ourselves, can we really define this as “persecution” when we still have the option to worship publicly on Sunday morning? I imagine our brothers and sisters around the world, and the ones who have gone before us, would consider what we go through as a walk in the park, and would take our “persecution” over theirs any day of the week.

For us, persecution is a dirty word because we don’t have it, nor do we want it. We don’t understand the concept, and we’re not sure what to do when we read Jesus saying, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 5:10). The Beatitudes are not a strict way of life for “elite” Christians, but a promise of hope for those, who have or will be, marginalized by the world. So what happens to us, who are on the flip side of persecution? How will people in America want to know Jesus as their Savior, when a majority of Americans have the comfort of the world at their fingertips? When it comes down to it, we have to figure out a way to distinguish ourselves from the world, and even that can be tricky.

The “Kingdom Experiment” asked a very interesting question, “How does living the kingdom make us at odds with the current culture? Is there any way that current culture doesn’t contradict kingdom-living?” If we’re not careful, this question can be answered incorrectly, and can be the root cause to why Christianity is in such a mess. In my opinion, many of us will answer the first half of the question along the lines of “Kingdom living makes us at odds with current culture because what the Kingdom values isn’t what culture values.” Which will cause many of us to look at the second half of the question and answer no, and move right along. However, this second half of the question really made me think for a moment. Can Heaven and earth really share some of the same qualities? Do Christians emphasize the same values the world also values? Before you read what I came up with, pause for a moment and write down what you think many Christians emphasize and think about if people, who don’t know Christ as their Savior, emphasize the same thing too.

As a person, who has been following Christ for the past 10 years, there are some things I have noticed that have been largely emphasized at church: family, community, marriage, Easter, and Christmas, are some of the few. I believe people, who do not know Christ as their Savior, value these exact same things. Last time I checked, the world still thinks families are a good thing and should stick together; everyone stills enjoy having deep relationships with each other; couples aren’t getting married so they can get a divorce; and people, who believe and don’t believe, are still having Easter egg hunts, putting up Christmas trees, and giving each other Easter egg baskets and Christmas presents. In my opinion, family, marriage, community, the birth of Christ and his resurrection are all gifts God has allowed for us to share and enjoy.

So can the true reason why Christianity in America is so lifeless is because we have chosen to believe what God has meant for everyone to enjoy is only exclusively meant for us? Can the real reason why the world doesn’t see a difference between Christians and themselves is because believers have been taught the way we live for Jesus is by living for the same gifts God has allowed all the world to have? The problem that plagues American believers is we would rather live for what heaven and earth have in common, than what they don’t have in common. The moment when we finally start living for what we don’t share is the moment when the world finally sees Jesus. The reason why more people come to the saving grace of Jesus Christ in countries, where Christians are persecuted, is because people see how these persecuted believers live for the uncommon gifts of Heaven. Maybe its time for us to start taking a cue from our brothers and sisters, who are being persecuted, so others can see Jesus.

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December 13, 2011

Blessed are the peacemakers…

Peace. Just reading this word brings a montage of images in our heads. Mostly, these images have a common theme: the absence of conflict. There are no wars, no one is oppressed, and all nations are united as one. We have a word for a place like this: Utopia. Everyone is trying to make a utopia of some sorts, but the problem with every Utopian society is it comes from fallen people. Usually when someone wants to make a place like this, there are always certain stipulations that must happen to make it come to pass: only an elite group of people are allowed in, a certain race has to be exterminated, or a government has to be brought down. Either ways for a Utopia to happen, something terrible must happen first. Yet, I don’t believe when Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9), he is talking about a Utopian society. If anything, he is talking about something much, much better.

If you haven’t already guessed, we are asked to focus on what it means to be a “peacemaker” in the “Kingdom Experiment.” The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. The word shalom means experiencing a “completeness,” or “wholeness,” which is an entirely different from our thought of peace as no violence, conflict, or turmoil. So I think it’s safe to say Jesus is calling us to do more than stopping violence in people’s lives, but instead, calling us to participate in making people’s lives complete. I’m going to assume if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you believe people are made complete by knowing his free gift of salvation. Yet, even though I believe this is correct, I believe there is still a problem. I have noticed even when people accept Christ as their savior, their lives haven’t changed. If anything, they stay the same. So this tells me we are only stopping at one half of the equation. One of the greatest lies we have chosen to believe is we think we have done our job, as children of God, when we have shared Jesus with others.

So what’s the second half of the equation? Its funny how the answer always seems to be right in front of us, but we never see it until we stumble into it, which is what we did as a group last night. The “Kingdom Experiment” always asks two questions for the group to discuss. The first question was, “are you a peace-lover or peacemaker?” Obviously many of us said we are both and I’m sure that’s the answer most believers would give too. Yet, before any of us can really answer that question, we need to look at the second question: “If peace is more than just the absence of conflict, what can we do to be peacemakers?” And of course, in order for us to answer this question we have to wrap our heads around peace being more than just the absence of conflict. Since we know the Hebrew word shalom means “completeness” or “wholeness,” peace in my opinion means “the way things should be.”

When I say, “the way things should be,” I mean there are times when we look at the world around us and know something isn’t right. We even say this when something does look right, but it still looks wrong to us, for example the church. I believe God never intended for us to live in a fallen world, and I think that’s why we all have this nagging feeling inside of us, because of sin that has plagued this world since the fall of Adam and Eve. So we know there always seems to be something wrong no matter what, and unfortunately, we either feel powerless to do something about it or we believe we have no clue what to do. Which is a shame because I believe many of us do know what to do, but choose not too. Yet, even when we do think we know how “the way things should be,” its always from our own perspective, instead of God’s. Which made me ask my students, “How do you think God believes it should be, especially when it comes to church?” One of my students thought the description of the church in Acts 2:42-47, was the way God intended church to be. I, and I’m sure a ton of other believers too, would agree with him. So here’s what I’m thinking, if we believe this is the way God intended the church to be, why aren’t we doing it? Of course many of us will say it is the society we live in that keeps us from making this happen. Unfortunately, I think this is a very poor excuse we as believers use to keep ourselves from truly committing to Christ. There has to come a point in our lives when stop allowing society dictate how the church should be, and instead, let Christ lead it they way he intended it to be.

To me, this is the second half of the equation: integrating people into the church and taking care of them. Salvation is made complete in a person’s life when they actively participate as member of the body of Christ. And just to make sure there is no confusion, I believe people know the saving grace of God when they confess Christ with their lips and believe in him with their hearts (Romans 10:9-10); however, I also believe salvation isn’t something we do once, but is a life long process. The term we use for this process is called sanctification, which I believe is concept many churches don’t teach about. So in my opinion, peacemakers are people, who not only share salvation, but integrates people into the community of believers that loves them and takes care of them. This is how people become whole, this is how the world around us becomes whole. I believe many of us are peace-lovers, not peacemakers. Peace-lovers like what Jesus offers and believes everyone should have it, but it only sounds good on paper, not in real life. In their hearts, they don’t believe living for Jesus and being a part of the community of believers actually works, instead they only think its a really good suggestion. A peacemaker is someone who believes Jesus and his church makes a difference, and partners with Christ to help people become complete. A peace-lover sits on the sidelines of life and dreams what Christianity could be. While peacemaker steps into the game of life, and lives the dream. With all that said, there is only one question to ask ourselves: am I peace-lover or a peacemaker. Do I love to dream how things should be, or do I partner with Christ to make it happen?

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December 6, 2011

Blessed are the pure in heart…

Before I write down my thoughts on what it means to be pure in heart, I have to write about what experiment I did to reflect on being merciful. As I was looking at the different experiments I could do, I came across one, that I believe, truly reflects what I wrote about in my last post. However, I will be the first to admit it I didn’t want to do it. I was even kicking myself in the butt for writing such outlandish thoughts, because now it meant I must truly put my words into action. The experiment I chose was buying a gift card for a sex offender and writing him an encouraging letter. This was a hard one because (1) I have a three year old daughter who I love with all my heart, and I wouldn’t hesitate bashing some guys head in with a bat for doing such a horrible act to her (not to mention I wouldn’t feel any remorse for doing that either); and (2) I don’t believe this person deserves my mercy, nor the $20.00 I spent on him to have a free meal. Yet, the funny thing about the opportunities we have to show mercy to others is this: we get to truly see how committed we are to the faith we believe in.

Our thought process is the greater the sin a person commits, determines how much mercy they will receive from us, which is where we fail as believers. When we pick and choose who is and isn’t welcomed into the Kingdom, we become the very thing we preach against: a Pharisee. This is why Jesus and the Pharisee’s butted heads so much, they believed it was their god given right as his children to make sure only the right people could have access to their God, while Jesus said he alone is the only one who has that right. Which he proved on the cross when he died for everyone’s sin, and yes that includes the sex offender, the dictator, and even though he is dead (and I’m sure I’ll be called unpatriotic for this one), Osama Bin Laden. So if it always seems like we are at odds with the sayings of Jesus, it’s because he is calling us to stop being the judge we were never meant to be and recognizing him as the true authority in our lives. Which we don’t like, because lets be honest, many of us would rather be the hero, with a gun in our hands, than the person who extends salvation to others. With all that said, I still have a lot of growing to do. I know my first reaction is not always the one I’m supposed to have, but one day I hope to be able to respond properly to those who have been fully consumed by sin.

This week I’m focusing on what it means to be pure in heart. Jesus says,”Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8). What does Christ mean by this? Evidently, I think this is worth figuring out because being pure in all aspects of our lives is something many believers struggle with. In this chapter of the “Kingdom Experiment,” they quote C.S. Lewis, “He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in its heart.” Here’s what I think Mr. Lewis is trying to say: if we lust after an object, we don’t just look at it and say we want it, instead we visualize ourselves going through the motion of doing whatever it is to obtain it. If its lusting after a person, we visualize the before, during, and after process of having sex with them. If its power, we see ourselves coming to power, enforcing our rule on others, and what we will do to them if they choose to disobey our commands. If we lust after hurting someone, we go through the motion of committing the perfect crime, where we will get away with murder. This is why Jesus says we sin when we lust after others, because we allow ourselves to emotionally go through the process. Which means we have to be on our guard because “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire (emotional act). Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death (physical act).” (James 1:14-15)

So if having a sinful desire towards in object causes us to see sin, then the exact opposite would be having a pure desire towards God will causes us to see him. Yet, this isn’t seeing God in our imaginations, but seeing him in the world we live in. I have noticed people don’t see God’s hand in a certain situation until after it has passed, or they just miss him completely. I also know this from my own experience. However, I think we have to come to a point in our faith where we see God instantly working in the world around us. So here’s what I think: if we strive to be pure, we will see God working; when we see him working, we can join him; and when we join him, we are used by him to bring glory to his name. When Christ calls us to be pure, he is inviting us to stop participating in a false reality, which brings death, but instead, participate in actual reality, which brings true life to ourselves and others. People can’t see God because his followers would rather live in a false reality, which accomplishes nothing, instead of living in reality, which accomplishes more than we could ever imagine. When we decide to be pure, we are no longer saying we are going to avoid life, but live it. So lets throw away the false notion of being pure means we are missing out on life, but instead, gaining the life we’ve always desired. My hope is everyone who reads this decides to choose life, because the world is in a desperate need of seeing Jesus.

November 19, 2011

Blessed are the merciful…

Before I begin my thoughts on what it means to be merciful, I thought I would share what experiment I did this past week. I decided to go to chainstorereaction.com and send emails to 10 major companies asking them to not use slave labor in the development of their products. I highly encourage everyone to go to this website and send an email. It only takes about 2 minutes to send 10 emails because the website made it super convenient for us by pre-writing the emails. Furthermore, if you need any more convincing, did you ever think about the clothes you wear to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, which calls us to love and help the oppress, might have actually been made by those who are oppressed? Just something to think about, that’s all.

This week, the “Kingdom Experiment” wants us to focus on what it means to be merciful. God has a lot to say about mercy. Just go to biblegateway.com and type in the word mercy and see how many results show up! Two of the most famous passages on mercy come from Old Testament prophets: Hosea and Micah. “For I desire mercy not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6), and “He has shown you, O mortal, 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). These passages teach us two major lessons on mercy: (1) worship of God is empty when we don’t show the mercy he has shown us to others; and (2) if we are to truly walk with God, we must love being merciful.

Dictionary.com defines mercy as: compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power. I have come to the conclusion we show mercy to types of people: those who we have some sort of relationship with, and those who we have no connection to at all. When it comes to people we have a relationship with, who wrong us, we do what we can to show mercy towards them. Why? Because we care about them, value their relationship, and we don’t want to lose the investment we put into this person. We do this all the time, and we consider ourselves being merciful; however, is this truly showing mercy? Don’t get me wrong, its never easy to forgive someone who has wronged us, but there’s almost an expectation or even a pressure to forgive because of the attachment we have to this person. For example, if I wrong my wife and seek her forgiveness, in the back of my head there’s always this small hope she will forgive me regardless of how I hurt her.

So here’s what I’m trying to say: if we only show mercy to those we love, the forgiver and the forgiven never experience the full measure of what it means to be merciful. Why? Because when a person we have no attachment to wrongs us, they know they don’t have a chance of receiving redemption for their failures, nor do we believe they deserve redemption. This is why I believe Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ’You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers,what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5:43-47). If we only show mercy to those we care for, we are no different from the person who does not know Christ, because they do the exact same thing. As believers in Christ we have to show some sort of distinction between being found and lost, and the greatest way we distinguish ourselves is when we are merciful to those we have no attachment to, or to those we could really care less for.

Finally, I’ll end with this, Christ says to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. I once read a Sunday school lesson saying Christ didn’t mean for us to be perfect because no one can, he only wants us to be obedient. However, I don’t think that’s the case, and I believe this is a teaching that is keeping the Church from becoming what it is meant to be. I’m one of the few people who believe not only can perfection be obtained for the believer, but its a valid option too. I believe this because why else would Christ say something like this? Did he say it so we could have a goal we would never achieve because of how messed up we are, or did he say it because its an achievable goal that can be obtained only by the grace of God? In my opinion, it has to be option two, because I refuse to believe I will live the rest of my life as some perpetual sinner always failing God, myself, and others. If this is true, than we are wasting our time and Christianity is pointless. In the eyes of our heavenly Father we are perfect because of Christ living in us, and because of Christ living in us, he is making us perfect on a daily basis. We can know when perfection is taking place in our lives when we are willing to do the unthinkable: show the same mercy God showed us to those we could care less for. Anything less than this is only being like someone who doesn’t know Christ as their savior.

November 15, 2011

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…

This week in the “Kingdom Experiment,” we are trying to understand what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I believe this is a concept that can be difficult for American believers to comprehend, because lets be honest, we don’t know what its like to be hungry. How many of us have opened our refrigerator or kitchen pantry, looked inside at shelves full of food and said, “there’s nothing to eat?” We are blessed because we have more food than we know what to do with. However, that wasn’t what it was like for those who lived while Jesus walked the earth. People during this time lived for the day at hand. They worked for a day’s wage, which provided food for the day. If no one worked, there was no food. People knew what it meant to be hungry. We on the other hand, only understand what it means to have an appetite.

So what’s the difference between having an appetite and experiencing hunger? One of my students, who is majoring in Kinesiology, helped me understand the difference last night. When our bodies tell us it’s time to eat, even though we can go a little longer without food, that’s when we experience an appetite. However, when our bodies have exhausted all of its energy supplies (from not eating for days) and tells us we must eat or we will die, that’s when we experience hunger. We have an appetite for righteousness, not so much a complete hunger for it that if we don’t get it, we will die. So when Jesus tells the people listening to him to hunger and thirst for righteousness, they get what he’s trying to say. Furthermore, now they have a hope to look forward too because their hunger will finally be filled by God.

Yet, how does God fill us? In order for us to get to this conclusion, the ”Kingdom Experiment” wanted us to know about the year of Jubilee. When Israel was being established as a nation, God commanded Israel to allow all debts cancelled, slaves freed, property given back, and for every thing to experience complete restoration every 49 years (Leviticus 25:8-22). God put this practice into place to insure his people would never fully oppress each other or the sojourner who inhabited the land he gave them. This was God’s way to make sure divine justice would happen, since he knows how greedy his creation can be. The year of Jubilee was almost like a reboot for the nation to start over again, and find its way back to being the people God called them to be. Unfortunately, Israel never practiced this amazing year, and it makes me wonder what life would be like in America if we ever practiced such a thing?

Yet, there is something else to think about: the relationship between Jubilee and justice. When justice takes place, celebration soon follows, and when I look at the world around me, there doesn’t seem too much to celebrate because justice isn’t happening the way it should be. Our nation will never practice jubilee so justice can never be truly experienced; however, jubilee may be something the church should consider practicing. Which brings us to the next question the “Kingdom Experiment” asked, “How can we bring divine justice to our church? Our community?”

To bring divine justice to our community, we have to bring justice back into the church, which happens when we understand our role as being the body of Christ. To me, and hopefully you as well, Christ is all about redemption. When he walked the earth, he corrected what was wrong and restored people back to their proper place. Redemption is the entire reason why Christ died on the cross, so we can be restored back to our proper place as God’s creation. So if Christ is all about redeeming what is wrong, and we are his body, do you think that should be something we should be doing on a regular basis: redeeming the world around us? Christ has called all of us to redeem, and when we’re not redeeming, we’re not being the Church.

So how does that look like in the local church? I’ve wonder how church would be different if our budgets were more outward focused instead of being inward focused. For example, we have line items to support local and international missions (which is good), but why don’t we have line items to send people to do local and international missions? I’ve never understood why people think they need to experience a financial sacrifice to do missions when they have already been sacrificing their finances to their church. In my opinion, if a church wants to send its members to do local, regional, or international missions it should pay for them to go. It makes me wonder how many more people would be willing to do missions if they already knew the cost was taken care of?

I’ve also wondered why we build massive structures for us to gather in once or twice a week, and not structures for people to live in who need a place to stay. How amazing would it be to take a family, who lives on the streets, and give them a free place to stay. Yet, not only do they have a free place to stay, but the church helps them get back on their feet again. The church gives them clean cloths, help them find a job, learn how to do a budget, help them save enough money to move into their own place, and most importantly, be apart of the fellowship of believers, because all of this is happening in the same place people gather to worship God. The same could also go for those who have been released from prison too.

With all this talk about redemption, I must ask myself three questions. (1) Am I part of a church that is redeeming the community around it? (2) Am I instilling a theology of redemption to the students God has given me to shepherd? (3) Am I redeeming the people in my own personal world? These are hard questions to ask ourselves because we are faced with the cold truth: the answers to all these questions is no. However, I have come to the conclusion it doesn’t have to be this way. Every aspect of Christianity can can be redeemed if we stop settling for only filling out appetites, and instead, having a true hunger for God. So if you haven’t figured out the answer to “how does God fill us?” Here’s the answer, hunger for God also means a hunger to redeem the world. If we’re not redeeming the world around us, we will never be filled by God.

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October 31, 2011

Blessed are the meek…

This past week in the “Kingdom Experiment,” we looked at what it means to be meek. If you go to dictionary.com (one of my favorite sites to visit) and search the word meek, you will find these definitions: adj. (1) humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others; (2) overly submissive or compliant; spiritless or tame; (3) obsolete. gentle; kind. Now I’m sure being called meek is the last word we want to be defined as, yet Christ says “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) Christ may be viewed as meek, but in my opinion, there is no way these definitions define my Savior. Unfortunately, we have a terrible definition of what meekness is. When the bible is talking about being meek, it defines it as strength in control. What does strength in control look like? It looks like Jesus, who had all the power in the universe to destroy everyone who brought him harm, but instead, controlled his power and was submissive to the will of God. Another example would be if you’re a ninja and some punk tries to mess with, instead of using your mad ninja skills to kill him, you walk away.

I confess, the experiments this week weren’t great at all. The only reason I was able to do one experiment was because a group of us got together and did it. On Friday night, six of us got together and pushed carts at an HEB parking lot. We only did it for a few minutes, and truth be told, we only did that experiment because none of us had done anything else. However, pushing those carts reminded me of a time when I was cart pusher. It was 2009 and life was a little crazy for me at the start of the year. It all began in 2008 when I got married, and before the year ended, I was already a daddy. To top it all off, I was trying to finish school and was doing part time student ministry at a dead church. To support my family, I picked up a part time job at Costco in the summer of 2008. I was hired as a “cashier assistant,” or what I like to call it: a glorified bag boy. I was making $11.50 an hour “boxing” groceries and pushing carts all day, it was the easiest money I have ever made. However, at the beginning of 2009 I left my church, and now I was just a cashier assistant. Not going to lie, this was not what I thought I would be doing at this point in my life. I was a 24 year old college graduate, with a family, and working at Costco pushing carts. Something didn’t add up right.

For the first quarter of 2009 I was stuck trying to figure out “what went wrong?” At one point, I became very bitter because this was “common” work that was completely beneath me. However, like all work places, what makes it awesome are the people you work with. And Costco had some really awesome people. The more I made friends, the more I got to find out about their lives. Many of my coworkers were married, had families, and working at Costco for awhile. In my opinion, they were happy. They didn’t mind what they were doing, and they were taking care of their families in the process. The more I thought about this, the more I realized how much “common” work there is in this world, and how much common work fuels our economy. In all reality, people make careers from “common” work and are just as satisfied as those who were told, “You don’t want to end up working at McDonald’s the rest of your life, do you?”

So I had to do some rethinking, and repent for my attitude. I had been looking down on people, believing they had failed in life because they were doing work I deemed beneath me. When in all reality, these people never viewed their work beneath themselves. It was truly a humbling moment in my life. I believe meekness is more than strength in control, but doing the things we believe our beneath us for the glory of God. Which makes me have to ask two questions: (1) How many people in America, who are looking for jobs, refuse to do a particular work because it is beneath them; and (2) How would Christianity be different, if we as believers, would do ministry that is beneath ourselves? I have a really good feeling more people would be working, and more people would look upon Christianity a lot more favorably.

In the end, if we aren’t sure about what meekness looks like, all we need to do is look to Christ as our example. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, and comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:1-10, ESV).

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October 24, 2011

Blessed are those who mourn…

This past week, “The Kingdom Experiment” wanted us to focus on mourning. I will be honest and admit I don’t mourn for others the way I should. Like most Christians, I would like to believe I’m utterly broken for those who don’t know Christ, or for the hurt of the world, but I’m not. I know I need to be more sensitive for those hurting around me and have a genuine concern for everyone’s salvation because Christ calls us to. Yet, like most people I wake up oblivious to what is happening in the world outside of my house. My typical morning is hitting the snooze button a few times, getting my daughter ready for her morning routine while my wife gets ready, I work out, shower, eat breakfast, spend a few minutes with my wife, and finally leave for work. Not much mourning going on except for me lamenting how I wish I could sleep longer. The truth is we are too busy to mourn, or just don’t want to because when you really start thinking about how depressing the world is, it just ruins your day.

The focus of the week was communal sin, so each experiment had to do with being sensitive to the hurting community around you. I chose the experiment ”Sinners and Saints,” which had me pray for fallen ministers, who were in the “spotlight.” I chose this one because I am partial to it, not because I am a fallen minister, but because I am a minister and share this connection with others who server Christ as their living. When I hear about an influential minster falling from grace I get upset because our faith is hindered. I believe our faith only depends on Jesus Christ, but when he raises up influential men to represent him in this world and they have an epic fail, they make it that much harder for the rest of us to share his love. However, I also mourn for them too because they have to live with their failure that hurt so many people. And I find it unfortunate Christ is the only one who will truly forgive him, while the rest of us never will. So I prayed for four ministers: one who was nationally known, one who wasn’t nationally known but made the news, and two who are not nationally known, but I know personally and both have had a direct influence on my life.

We were also asked a question: what is the connection between true community and mourning for the sins of those around you? This is not an easy question to answer and I’m still not sure if the answer I came up with is even right. However, before I tell you my answer I must share how I came to it. As a group, we always try to do one experiment together so we decided to do “I just saw Abe Lincoln crying in the corner.” This experiment asked us to discuss what we believe our sin as a nation is and as a Church (not our church specifically but the Church as a whole) and intercede for those sins. As a group, we came to the conclusion our sins as a nation are pride, greed, selfishness, and immortality. While our sins as a Church are our lack of fear for God, our judgmental attitude, and the way we gossip about each other.

During the week I felt we had to do more than just intercede for our nation and church. It just so happened I’m taking Old Testament in seminary and I’m learning a lot about the nation of Israel. Once a year, the tribes of Israel would come together as a nation and perform a spiritual purification process called Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. On this day the high priest would present sacrifices for the priest’s and the nation to atone for their sin they committed to God, yet they would do something else that made this day special. They would take two goats one to be sacrificed and the other to have the sins of the nation be put on it, and released into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:1-34). The point of this day was for the nation as a whole to be reconciled to God and literally see their sin leave the presence of the community through the releasing of the goat.

As New Testament believers, we don’t do things like this because Christ is the true sacrifice for us; however, the ritual has much to teach us about the connection between community and mourning. After discussing what our small group to do with my wife, I decided it would be best for us to do our own Day of Atonement. Now I didn’t use a goat because (1) I don’t have one, and (2) I’m sure I would get a ticket for letting one out into the middle of the street. However, I do live by the ocean so the best thing we could come up with was releasing a goldfish into the ocean. Laugh all you want, but I really did learn some thing from this entire experience.

When I was in the pet store looking for a fish, I started to feel bad about what was going to happen to it that evening. Let’s be honest, this fish was not going to live once I put it into the ocean. Even worse, the poor fish didn’t do anything to deserve such a fate. And it finally hit me. Do I get this beat up over the sacrifice Christ provided for me on the cross? The answer is no, and I’m pretty sure we get more beat up over an animal being hurt than our savior dying for us. It was truly a sobering moment. Furthermore, I started to realize what the Israelite’s would have understood when they released their goat out into the wilderness. This fish was very small and its size didn’t do justice to the very big sins we have committed as a nation and a Church. However, it doesn’t really matter how big the fish is because the ocean is so much bigger than any fish. When we compare the ocean of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness to our nation’s and Churches sins as a goldfish, there is no sin too great for God to forgive. God can heal any nation and church and provide redemption for it to be restored to the proper place that brings glory and honor to him. This is what Israel saw when they released their goat, and this is what my group of 20 some things saw when I released the goldfish.

So to answer the question: what’s the connection between true community and mourning for the sins of others? Life experiences. The more we share our lives together as God’s people, the more we will be connected to the hurting of our community. I shared an experience with 10 other people last night that I never shared with anyone else. We are connected because of the foundation Christ laid for this experience, and because of it, I will hurt if some thing were to happen to one of these ten people. For New Testament believer’s, the Church is where we come together to share our lives with each other. The more we come together to work through life with each other, the more we will grow as a community in Christ. Now I have no problem admitting when I’m wrong, but I like to believe I got the answer to this question just right. And who knows, maybe someone might agree with me too.

October 15, 2011

Blessed are the poor in spirit…

This week I started the Kingdom Experiment with the young adult bible study I lead. The Kingdom Experiment is a book written by Bruce Nuffer, Liz Perry, and Rachel McPherson, which asks the reader to intentionally live for Jesus Christ. The book does this by focusing on the Beatitudes, which is Jesus’s introduction to the Sermon on the Mount proclaiming everyone is welcomed into the Kingdom of God! Each week the reader is encouraged to participate in small “experiments” that relate to a certain Beatitude. This week we are looking at being “poor in spirit.”

The question of the week is “does actually being poor and experiencing poverty bring us closer to God?” The obvious answer to this questions is no; however, what I have learned is living in American does not make it easy for me to depend on God for daily living. Me and my family live comfortably, and in no way shape or form do I believe I will wake up and everything I own will be gone. In all reality, I expect to wake up with clean water to wash in, filtered water to drink from, food with no bugs in it, electricity, and pretty much all modern comforts I have been accustomed to since I was born. Don’t get me wrong, I understand I only have what I have because of the gracious God I serve. Yet, the American in me says I deserve more than just the necessities God provides for me. In all honesty, the spirit of “he owes it to me” is what drives it all.

In fact, the “experiments” the authors encourage us to do are more of an inconvenience than intentional living. We are asked to sleep on the floor for a week (which I opted to do for the week), take cold showers, buy a meal for a stranger, donate to a food pantry, ride a bike instead of driving a car, give an item you care about away, save electricity and use candles, and do a weekend fast (which I am currently doing now). Yet, it is the minor inconveniences that show us how accustomed we are to modern living, and forgetting the God who completely provides for it all. I am big enough to admit God shows up at the most inconvenient times and it annoys me. However, I am thankful for this because this is how God shows he loves me. God is willing to step into my world and mess it up, so he can make me into the man he has called me to be.

With all that said, I chose to sleep on the floor for the week. I will be honest and admit I chose this “experiment” because it seemed easy, and I have no shame by admitting I was completely wrong. By the first night I was ready to give up. However, I persisted and a new layer of blankets magically appeared on my makeshift pallet each night. What I learned this week was beds are a need. I have come to this conclusion because no matter what situation we are in, we always try to make some makeshift bed to sleep on. However, what is not necessary are the nice backboards that make our beds look nice, the awesome and expensive memory foam that makes our beds super comfy to sleep on, the fifty dollar memory foam pillows, and the super fine Egyptian cotton sheets to cover the mattress. By the end of the week, I am truly thankful for the bed God has provided for me.

I am ending the week by going on a two day fast. This is the first fast I have ever done and I am a little nervous. However, I know God has made my body with the ability to go without food, so I should be able to handle this with no problem (hopefully). What eases the comfort is I know I’m not the only one doing this. The young adult group has decided to do the fast together, which shows me how much more we can accomplish when we do things together. In the end, I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead, and thankful to God for providing people to encourage us to draw closer to him.