For some people, it seems as though baptism is a destination. What I mean by that is that we seem to expend most of our energy on leading people to make the commitment and decision to be baptized. It also seems that we focus so much on the idea of Jesus as Savior that we discount the idea of Jesus as Lord.
Let’s consider what Peter said as he offered his sermon on Pentecost:
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off —for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:36-39)
We love Jesus the Messiah, the Savior. We want to be forgiven. We want to punch our ticket for eternity. That’s the part of Jesus that we embrace the most easily.
But the Lord part? Sometimes, not so much. We want Jesus to take away our sins, but we want to keep our place on the throne. We want to continue to be the master of our lives and make our own decisions.
But in baptism, our sins aren’t the only thing that Jesus washes away. Jesus also removes our lordship. When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, someone new has moved in to sit on the throne, God. He will be the one calling the shots and guiding our lives. God, through the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us.
And, in addition to that, we become a part of a family. Our baptism into Christ makes us a member of the body of Christ. We become a part of a family filled with people just as imperfect as we are. We join a community who should collectively be following Christ as he saves us and leads us.
Family can be messy, but when we all follow the same Lord, it can be much easier. I believe that one of the reasons so many churches struggle to make an impact is because they have forgotten who is Lord. Instead of one Lord that everyone follows, we have churches full of lords who want things their way. Each person sits in their pew demanding things be done the way they want or they’re going to leave.
Is that how family works?
Granted, there are times that family needs to part ways. However, I think that there are too many times that we part ways or drift apart over things that aren’t that important. We fail to form tight family bonds because we serve other lords. We miss out on the rich life that God has for us because we don’t fully embrace the commitment we have made.
When we are baptized into Christ we are accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord. Not only are we having our sins taken away, we are giving up our lordship and independence. We are committing ourselves to God and the community of God. We are submitting ourselves to something bigger than ourselves.
shine!
Jason
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sunday, July 08, 2012
The body
We need each other. This is a fundamental truth for humanity and for the church.
In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul uses the imagery of a human body to describe the church. His choice of something that is alive shows that the church is more than a place, an organization, or a bunch of programs. The church is, first and foremost, a living, breathing organism.
When we lose sight of this and start to look at the church more as a place, organization, or a bunch of programs, we can begin to have an unhealthy view of church. I want to consider a few unhealthy understandings of church that emerge from this way of looking at church.
We focus on how we can be served, not how we can serve. When we think that the church exists to serve me, we begin to think that church is about us. This could surface in a number of ways. It might mean that we complain about the songs we sing. If the church doesn’t offer the programs that entertain me or appeal to what I want, we don’t participate.
Our consumerist, market-driven view on life has taught us that if we get bored we can simply change the channel, jump to the next song on our playlist, or simply walk away. As products have become more disposable, so have the intangible things in life. If a relationship isn’t serving my needs, I walk away. If a church isn’t what I want, I change.
It seems as though more and more people shop for a church like they do insurance or a new car. When something better, or newer comes along, they simply change.
That may work with a car or insurance, but that’s not how the church should be. The church is not a club you join or something that exists exclusively for your benefit. It is a family, a living organism, a gathering of people committing to live life together under the banner of the Kingdom of God.
And this brings me to a second unhealthy consequence.
We spend time with people more like us, and neglect those who are different. When church becomes about me and my preferences, then I hang out with who I want to hang out. This could shape an entire church or segments of people within the church.
As a church, we might become a group of people who only really make those who are like us feel welcome. If you’re from a different socio-economic level, have a different cultural background, or if you’re different in some other way, you may not be as welcome.
I realize that this is a challenge for everyone, but it is also something we should be aware of and working on at all times. We should be the one place in the world, where the markings of the world cease to carry the power to divide.
But even if we have a church that welcomes diversity, we must make sure we are not creating clusters of people who are all the same. As Paul says in the
1 Corinthians 12 passage, we all need each other. Hands need ears. Feet need eyes. We all need each other, and if we only spend time with “like parts”, we are missing out on the richness that God created us for.
What does it mean to be a body? It means we appreciate our uniqueness, embrace our diversity, and work together to carry out the calling that God has placed before us. When we work together, we can accomplish so much more than when we are divided.
shine!
Jason
In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul uses the imagery of a human body to describe the church. His choice of something that is alive shows that the church is more than a place, an organization, or a bunch of programs. The church is, first and foremost, a living, breathing organism.
When we lose sight of this and start to look at the church more as a place, organization, or a bunch of programs, we can begin to have an unhealthy view of church. I want to consider a few unhealthy understandings of church that emerge from this way of looking at church.
We focus on how we can be served, not how we can serve. When we think that the church exists to serve me, we begin to think that church is about us. This could surface in a number of ways. It might mean that we complain about the songs we sing. If the church doesn’t offer the programs that entertain me or appeal to what I want, we don’t participate.
Our consumerist, market-driven view on life has taught us that if we get bored we can simply change the channel, jump to the next song on our playlist, or simply walk away. As products have become more disposable, so have the intangible things in life. If a relationship isn’t serving my needs, I walk away. If a church isn’t what I want, I change.
It seems as though more and more people shop for a church like they do insurance or a new car. When something better, or newer comes along, they simply change.
That may work with a car or insurance, but that’s not how the church should be. The church is not a club you join or something that exists exclusively for your benefit. It is a family, a living organism, a gathering of people committing to live life together under the banner of the Kingdom of God.
And this brings me to a second unhealthy consequence.
We spend time with people more like us, and neglect those who are different. When church becomes about me and my preferences, then I hang out with who I want to hang out. This could shape an entire church or segments of people within the church.
As a church, we might become a group of people who only really make those who are like us feel welcome. If you’re from a different socio-economic level, have a different cultural background, or if you’re different in some other way, you may not be as welcome.
I realize that this is a challenge for everyone, but it is also something we should be aware of and working on at all times. We should be the one place in the world, where the markings of the world cease to carry the power to divide.
But even if we have a church that welcomes diversity, we must make sure we are not creating clusters of people who are all the same. As Paul says in the
1 Corinthians 12 passage, we all need each other. Hands need ears. Feet need eyes. We all need each other, and if we only spend time with “like parts”, we are missing out on the richness that God created us for.
What does it mean to be a body? It means we appreciate our uniqueness, embrace our diversity, and work together to carry out the calling that God has placed before us. When we work together, we can accomplish so much more than when we are divided.
shine!
Jason
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Weather, weathermen, and the power of God
I haven't written here for a little while, so I thought that I would write while I sit on a porch in a small town in Ohio watching yet another thunderstorm roll through town.
I love severe weather. Not the damage it does, but the sheer power of it. There is something about watching lightning and hearing the claps of thunder. I am enthralled when I see a video of a tornado.
I remember when I was a child, we had the opportunity to visit one of the Cleveland TV stations during a news broadcast. My dad was friends with the weatherman at the station, so he invited us to sit feet from the set as they did the evening news. There are two things I remember from that visit.
First, I remember that when the newscasters stood up from their desk after the broadcast, they were wearing colorful shorts with their dress shirts and jackets. I still wonder if anchors on CNN, FOX News, ESPN, and other channels still do that. I'm sure they do.
The other thing I remember were the radar printouts.
Keep in mind that this was the late 70's. There were very few personal computers, no Internet, and smart phones weren't even a glimmer in Steve Job's eye yet.
So when the weatherman let me take home these printed images of a hurricane as it trekked across the Atlantic, I was amazed. I took those images home and looked at them over and over again.
So what do newscasters in shorts and severe weather have in common? They both remind us that we only have glimpses of the power of God.
I am a part of a religious tribe that has often thought we have God pretty well figured out. If we "do worship" the right way and follow some rules, then God will be pleased. God loves us because we have figured him out and know how he ticks.
The reality is that God is far beyond our comprehension. When we think we have him figured out, he stands up from behind the desk and he's wearing colorful shorts. The God who seems to command rites and rituals turns a corner and calls us to extend mercy to the people who don't follow the rules we deem so important. To borrow the words of Hosea (that are repeated by Jesus), God demands mercy, not sacrifice.
And in the storms we are reminded of the power of God to create a world beyond our control. I'm also a part of a society that thinks we can control most anything. We pursue medicines to prevent death, and everyone still dies. We perform surgeries to look young, but we still get old. We live in nice neighborhoods and have nice jobs to hide our problems, but even families in the richest neighborhoods have struggles and sometimes fall apart.
I don't believe that God controls the weather so that he can punish people (HERE is an interesting take on this idea). However, I do believe that weather allows a glimpse into the power of God. One of my favorite lines in the movie Twister (I'm sure you can guess why it's one of my favorite movies. Maybe because if I wasn't a youth minister I would be a storm chaser. Some people would argue there isn't much difference.) is when they call an F5 tornado "the finger of God." I don't think it's God tearing people's lives apart on purpose, but I do believe that we get a taste of God's power in those moments when 200-300 mph winds rip across the landscape.
One of the reasons I am fascinated with weather now as an adult is that it makes a great metaphor for life. There are seasons of heat and seasons of cold. Sometimes it's calm and sunny and other times it's stormy and brutal. And no matter how hard someone tries to predict what will happen, they will never get it right all the time.
And so it is on this journey called life. We will all face storms and we will all have days when the sun is out and the temperature is just right. But whether it's weather or life, our God is bigger than all of it. He created us. He created weather. He created life. And the God that made all of that is that God that stands with us in good times and bad.
Sometimes I wonder if God listens to me and wants to respond the same way he did to Job:
May the Lord be patient with me, and with you, in the storms of life. And may we always remember that the power of God is more than we can imagine and the love of God is stronger than we know.
shine!
Jason
I love severe weather. Not the damage it does, but the sheer power of it. There is something about watching lightning and hearing the claps of thunder. I am enthralled when I see a video of a tornado.
I remember when I was a child, we had the opportunity to visit one of the Cleveland TV stations during a news broadcast. My dad was friends with the weatherman at the station, so he invited us to sit feet from the set as they did the evening news. There are two things I remember from that visit.
First, I remember that when the newscasters stood up from their desk after the broadcast, they were wearing colorful shorts with their dress shirts and jackets. I still wonder if anchors on CNN, FOX News, ESPN, and other channels still do that. I'm sure they do.
The other thing I remember were the radar printouts.
Keep in mind that this was the late 70's. There were very few personal computers, no Internet, and smart phones weren't even a glimmer in Steve Job's eye yet.
So when the weatherman let me take home these printed images of a hurricane as it trekked across the Atlantic, I was amazed. I took those images home and looked at them over and over again.
So what do newscasters in shorts and severe weather have in common? They both remind us that we only have glimpses of the power of God.
I am a part of a religious tribe that has often thought we have God pretty well figured out. If we "do worship" the right way and follow some rules, then God will be pleased. God loves us because we have figured him out and know how he ticks.
The reality is that God is far beyond our comprehension. When we think we have him figured out, he stands up from behind the desk and he's wearing colorful shorts. The God who seems to command rites and rituals turns a corner and calls us to extend mercy to the people who don't follow the rules we deem so important. To borrow the words of Hosea (that are repeated by Jesus), God demands mercy, not sacrifice.
And in the storms we are reminded of the power of God to create a world beyond our control. I'm also a part of a society that thinks we can control most anything. We pursue medicines to prevent death, and everyone still dies. We perform surgeries to look young, but we still get old. We live in nice neighborhoods and have nice jobs to hide our problems, but even families in the richest neighborhoods have struggles and sometimes fall apart.
I don't believe that God controls the weather so that he can punish people (HERE is an interesting take on this idea). However, I do believe that weather allows a glimpse into the power of God. One of my favorite lines in the movie Twister (I'm sure you can guess why it's one of my favorite movies. Maybe because if I wasn't a youth minister I would be a storm chaser. Some people would argue there isn't much difference.) is when they call an F5 tornado "the finger of God." I don't think it's God tearing people's lives apart on purpose, but I do believe that we get a taste of God's power in those moments when 200-300 mph winds rip across the landscape.
One of the reasons I am fascinated with weather now as an adult is that it makes a great metaphor for life. There are seasons of heat and seasons of cold. Sometimes it's calm and sunny and other times it's stormy and brutal. And no matter how hard someone tries to predict what will happen, they will never get it right all the time.
And so it is on this journey called life. We will all face storms and we will all have days when the sun is out and the temperature is just right. But whether it's weather or life, our God is bigger than all of it. He created us. He created weather. He created life. And the God that made all of that is that God that stands with us in good times and bad.
Sometimes I wonder if God listens to me and wants to respond the same way he did to Job:
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: "Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me. (Job 38:1-3 NIV)
May the Lord be patient with me, and with you, in the storms of life. And may we always remember that the power of God is more than we can imagine and the love of God is stronger than we know.
In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress. (Psalm 71:1-3 NIV)
shine!
Jason
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)