Viral Gospel Part 2.

In Viral Gospel Part 1. I discussed the components of a virion (a virus particle) and what this can illustrate for us about the truth and expression of the Gospel and how to address the issues of false gospels and vaccination. Today’s post will delve more into the first century Palestinian context in which Jesus used the word “gospel”.

When Jesus started his ministry he was anything but ignorant of the cultural context into which he as the Savior had stepped. There are a few things we as aliens to this historic moment need to know. Palestine was an occupied land ruled by the Empire of Rome. It was a backwater territory in the vast empire, but an important trade-route, so despite the continuous thorn the Jews were in the side of Caesar the empire would not let this area go. The praetorium, the local center of the empire’s administration, taxation, and military housing in Jerusalem (where Jesus was brought before Pilate) was built next to and taller than God’s temple as a declaration to the subjected people of Israel who was truly Lord of the land.

It is important to understand when Jesus used the word “Gospel/Good news” which is a translation of the Greek word “εὐαγγέλιον” (euangelion), this word had very specific connotations. “Gospel” was Caesar’s word. “Gospel” was a declaration of victory, prosperity, or peace, and was an important aspect in the cult of Caesar. That’s right, cult of Caesar. Dating back to 42 B.C. when Julius Caesar was posthumously deified and Caesar Augustus declared himself “Son of God” it became the civil religion of the Empire to worship Caesar. Common civil duties like the meeting of the local assembly (Greek “ἐκκλησία”, ekklesia, the same word later used for “church” in the New Testament) and paying taxes to Caesar included worship of Caesar as God’s son (this adds some context to Jesus’ talk about rendering to Caesar and to God, but that will be another blog post). Below is a link to a picture of a denarius of Caesar Augustus Tiberius, Caesar at the time of Jesus’ ministry, with the inscription which translates “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius#mediaviewer/File:Emperor_Tiberius_Denarius_-_Tribute_Penny.jpg

Jesus’ strategy with his word choice is similar to a virus exploiting a host cell. When a cell is infected with a virus, the viral nucleic acid seizes control of the cell’s machinery and repurposes it to begin creating viral proteins (which form new capsids, the protein shells of virions) and copies of the viral nucleic acid. When Jesus came rather than creating new terminology he hijacked Caesar's promises like a viral take over. He took these preexisting political words of his day, and he redefined them to illustrate the contrast and incompatibility between Kingdom and Empire. By using the word “gospel” Jesus was calling people to put their allegiance not in the empire with its military superiority, but in his kingdom; not in Caesar who ruled the world, but in the Messiah who came to die for and save the world. His goal was to expose the futility of weapons, selfish power, and war; to show another way of living was possible. Jesus’ subversive use of “gospel” foreshadowed his true purpose: demonstrating true power by dying at the hand of the empire’s war machine for those who do not deserve it.

Just as gospel was a declaration of victory accomplished, we can be confident in Jesus’ completed work of salvation. Caesar may have reigned over an empire spanning the known world, but Jesus’ death and resurrection prove He has come to save us and has conquered death. The Gospel continues to call us away from the lust of empire: comfort at the exploitation of others, military power, and control, and to die to ourselves and serve those who, like us, do not deserve it.

Christmas is over, now what?

We are now over one month post-Christmas and life has settled back into our normal routines.  Life continues like nothing happened.  But something did happen; we celebrated Christmas and the mysteries of Emmanuel and the Incarnation.  The whole course of human history changed with Jesus's missions trip to Earth.

If Christmas is not a Civil War reenactment and Jesus has truly come into the world, my life today should look different than it did on 12/24/2012.  But how?  Now what?

We must allow the truth of Jesus' coming, dying, and resurrecting to permeate our lives.  Every aspects; every nook and cranny.  We have to live with the truth our world and our lives will never be the same, nor should we allow ourselves to complacently think so.

Where to begin?  When Jesus was about ready to beam back up to Heaven in Acts 1 He lays out the next stage in His plan for global domination/reconciliation saying "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8).  We see Peter in John 21 trying to go back to fishing, to his old life.  But Jesus follows him there and calls Peter back into the identity Jesus has for him.  Instead of returning to our old lives of 2012 let us seek Holy Spirit and God's power to be His witnesses here, there, and the world.

With this call to be Jesus's witnesses we cannot afford to stay in our Jerusalems.  I don't want to sonud too dramatic, but the Greek word for "witness" is "martyr", and our call is to martyrdom in whatever forms this may take.  Sharing the Gospel is risky.  It has always been risky.  It will always be risky.  We cannot wait for a "better opportunity" because such a thing will never come.

If we are truly honest with ourselves and with God, we will realize God loves us and God cares about us, but God also loves and cares about everyone else around the world too.  God in His goodness never promised His disciples safety.  Jesus never guaranteed comfort.  In fact He assures us of quite the opposite (Mt 24:9-14, Mk 13:9-13, Lk 21:12-19).  But Jesus did promise to be with us.  "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Mt 28:20).  We may lose in life, we may suffer, but we will never be abandoned.  This is the mystery of Emmanuel; even now in 2013 God is still with us.

My motivation is not based on a guilt-trip, it is rooted in my Jesus who is with me.  He has called us not only to be reconciled with Him, but also to be agents of reconciliation.  We are Christ's ambassadors to this world (2 Cor 5:19-20).

We have to take the Gospel to the world.  We have to live to see God's Kingdom advanced.  This Advent season the Lord continually reminded me of the billions of people on Earth who have never heard of Jesus's first Advent.  We have to see the Gospel taken to the unreached people groups and the far corners of the globe.  Jesus said the "Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations(ethnic groups), and then the end will come." (Mt 24:14) and we need to take His statement seriously.

May your 2013 be an excellent and Jesus-y year.  May this year not be just another lap around the Sun, but see God's Kingdom come and His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

E. coli and Multigenerational Thinking

I love bacteria (mostly).  We can learn a lot from these little bugs, about Biochemistry and a couple Theological metaphors too.  Today we will look at our friend (most of the time) Escherichia coli (E. coli).  E. coli and the Apostle Paul both have the same idea about replication and discipleship.

An often under-appreciated component of our faith and the proper functioning of a church body is the raising up of new leaders.  Leaders demonstrate a lot of their vision for the Church by how they work to raise up new leaders.  A "God-sized vision" is bigger than any of us.  No one person is the answer to what and where God is leading His people, globally and also locally.

A proper stewardship of God's call/gifting to leadership is illustrated by a person's ability to pass the baton and allow others to step in to be a part of God's process.  Not only does this help guard us against the aptitude of power to corrupt, but it also prepares the community for when a specific leader leaves.  All of us within the body of Christ are replaceable, and must be, because God's work of redemption on Earth is greater than any of us.  Are our leaders, and we as leaders, working to prepare our replacements?

The book of Judges is a story of failed leadership.  Over and over we see this cycle of failure and bondage which stems from the leaders' inability to raise up the next generation of leaders.  Before Judges we see Moses lead God's people.  Moses discipled Joshua, and when Moses dies Joshua is prepared to take over (Deuteronomy 34:9, Joshua 1:).  We see is Judges 2:7 Joshua too raised up other leaders after himself.  The breakdown in leadership, which sets the stage for the entire book of Judges, comes in Judges 2:10 "After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel".

If this is the problem, the answer, according to Paul and E. coli, is a multigenerational view of replication.

The whole life-cycle of an E. coli cell takes 60 minutes to complete, but under ideal circumstances E. coli cells are able to divide ever 20 minutes1.  E. coli achieves this rate of replication by reinitiating DNA replication before the previous round of replication finishes.  Within a given cell we see "mother" chromosome, "daughter" chromosome, as well as "granddaughter" chromosome2.  For optimal growth E. coli has to think beyond the daughter generation and onto the granddaughter generation.

The Apostle Paul had the same idea.  In his final letter to Timothy, his primary disciple, Paul writes in 2 Timothy2:2 "the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others."  Within this one sentence we see Paul describe four generations of leaders; Paul, Timothy, reliable people, and others.  Paul understood for the First Century Church to grow and persist it was crucial to have a multigenerational mindset.  This remains true of the Church even today.

As Paul writes and E. coli shows, let us grasp and practice the work of multigenerational thinking.  As my father-in-law and veteran church planting coach Kevin Sutter puts it, our goal should be to train up others and "work yourself out of a job."3

---

1. Ingraham, John L. et al.  Microbe.  ASM Press. 2006. p.172.

2. Crooke, E. et al. Organization of sister origins and replisomes during multifork DNA replication in Escherichia coli. PubMed. 2007.

3. Sutter, Kevin.  Keys to Church Planting Movements. 2006. p. 63.

Why I give my money to Jesus and you should too

Money can be a very uncomfortable subject for people, especially in the Church and involving the Church.  Most of us have a sense we should be giving to God, but we often don't know why or how much and can feel pressured by words like "tithe" and "stewardship".  Additionally our culture tells us to guard our money; we should be wary of anyone who mentions money and scrutinize everyone for ulterior motives.  I find it interesting, but not too surprising, to see societies with the most money are often the most obsessed and grudging about it.

The Bible however offers a very different view of money and tithing.  The first corporate offering from the Israelites happens at Sinai.  God is speaking to Moses on the mountain and He is getting ready to instruct Moses in how to build the Tabernacle.  God says to Moses "take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me." (Ex 25:2)

God wants to build the Tabernacle so He collects an offering.  As you may remember at this point the Israelites had just left Egypt, where they were slaves, three months prior.  How did they have anything to offer God?  Before leaving the land of Egypt God provided for the Israelites by enabling them to plunder the Egyptians (Ex 3:21-22, Ex 12:35-36).

With the building the Tabernacle God offered the Israelites the opportunity to give back to God, and not only do they have the chance to give to Him, but they have the chance to partner with God in establishing His earthly dwelling.  Before Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, for centuries the Tabernacle was the place where God's presence dwelt on Earth.  Here we have the whole nation of Israel in the desert, with nothing but what God has already brought them, and He provides the option for the Israelites to worship Him with their wealth.  God's first corporate offering is a chance to sow into His work of redemption and reconciliation on Earth.  What an awesome and powerful opportunity these Israelites had, to be given the chance to help establish God's Kingdom here on Earth.

How else did the Israelites make use of their plundered treasure?  You may remember a certain golden calf which they also used their gold to build.

Whether worshiping God or worshiping idols, there is power in what we invest our money in.  Jesus wisely said "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Mt 6:19-21).  Our investments often betray our true priorities and insecurities.

At its heart tithing to God and His ministry is not some grudging demand for my dues, but an invitation to invest in His Kingdom.  By accepting His offer we can sow into His Kingdom and see it come to Earth; to help create God's dwelling place here.  How blessed are we to have this opportunity to partner with God and His work.

Ideas v. people

Do we love the Church or do we merely love the idea of the Church?

What happens when our concept of someone, our expectations, our projection of who they are does not match up with reality?  What happens when we fail to live up to each other's expectations?  I will surely fail you all at some point; I probably already have.  And the Church will do the same.

Do we believe in the Church, or just the idea of Church?

I have to ask myself this question a lot.  In part this is because my job as a campus pastor requires me to.  As a leader I am helping guide a community of faith (in my case college students), and to effectively lead I must have an understanding of what this community is called to do and be.  I have heard it said (cannot remember the source) a pastor must lead two churches, the church existing now, and the church this community is becoming.  But the gap between these two churches can be frustrating.

So do I love college students, or do I merely love the idea of college students?

But this question about loving the Church is not just for vocational ministers, but for everyone in the Body of Christ.  We all need to be asking ourselves this; to be a follower of Jesus means to be a part of the Church.

The idea of Church is neat and exciting; it is balanced, void of ego, and clean.

The reality of Church is exciting and messy, full of broken people and crying babies.  We often think the chaos of life gets in the way of our faith, when in fact our faith is truly lived in the midst of, not despite, the messiness and unpredictability of life.  If your problem with Church has to do with people no denomiation, para-church organization, or worship model will be able to solve your issue.  We are not called to merely love and serve those who are easy to love and serve.

I have known people who love the concept of Church; who love to theorize about the fullness of Church and contemplate all which the Church is called to be.  But I have also known people so fixated on these ideas and ideals that no real church has ever been enough, and they have not participated in a community of faith.

Church is more challenging in practice than in theory.  You have to get your hands dirty to be a part of it.  We have to engage with others in the fullness of our humanity, weakness, and sin.  I have begun to see all those inconveniences which have bothered me, which were so disruptive to the sanctity of the moment, are in fact the reality of Church.  Church is not a perfect worship service.  Church is not a deeply contemplative moment.  Church is living our lives and our faith together with others; where we are free to be open and honest, even if we disturb each other's peace at times.  We love the idea of individual faith.  Autonomy is so appealing.  But we have not been created or called to walk this out alone.  We need each other.  I need you.  And life lived with others is so much better.

It is hard to love the Church at times.  I can get discouraged by students' lack of maturity or commitment.  Because I am called to help encourage and support students in becoming who God has created them to be, I can get frustrated when students do not live up to their calling.

In spite of all this, our call is not to the idea of Church, but to the practice of Church.  Faith lived out in community.

Do You Bail Water or Abandon Ship?

I believe in the Church.  It may be increasingly popular not to.  There is a lot of criticism and cynicism revolving around the Church.

Such feelings are understandable.  Many people have been burned by the Church whether through legalism, hypocrisy, or abuse of authority.  And I cannot blame anyone for these feelings.

There also seems to be a growing conviction our faith is something personal and solitary.  Why would I need others to be involve in my private spirituality?  While I agree about the importance of individual faith and personal salvation, I do not believe it negates the very real need for others.  Our faith is not our own at the expense of involving community.

Past wounds coupled with an over-emphasis on the individuality of faith can produce a very anti-Church sentiment.

Given the fallen state of things and the brokenness of the Church we have to ask ourselves if we will bail water or abandon ship?  With the reality of our situation what will we do?  Do we fight on?  Do we jump ship?  Will we work to help build the Church into who God has designed us to be or will we give up?

It is important we ask ourselves our expectations of the Church.  Why does it surprise us when the Church acts like a bunch of broken people?  We are all in progress.  I am a hypocrite, not for lack of effort, but because the goal set before me and my current level of sanctification are not equal.  I have to be honest about my short-comings, while keeping my eyes upon Jesus.  The Church is not a place for perfect people, there are none.  The Church is a home for the sick and hurting.  Can we give the Church enough grace to be the Church?

Life is not a solitary experience.  Our faith, while personal, has never been intended to be lived alone.  In fact isolation was the first "not good" thing in all of Creation, "it is not good for man to be alone" (Gen 2:18).  Too much of scripture testifies to our corporate design.  Heb 10:24-25 exhorts meeting together and encouraging each other to grow in our faith.  1 Cor 12:12-27 and Rom 12:4-8 both describe how we as a body are to function together.

We in the Church need each other.  I am not autonomous; I cannot do this on my own.  Often we have this "American dream" view of faith which is not Biblical and is not real.  Life is full of hurt and challenges, and we need each other to stand firm.  I have seen too many friends walk away from their faith not because of Theological problems, not because of inconsistency, not because of imperfections, but because of a lack of community.

Something greater happens when we come together; in community there is power beyond the sum of each of us.  Corporate worship is not just about meeting at a regular time or socializing after service, but is about the Body of Christ coming together to grow and uplift and re-calibrate ourselves to be better equipped for going out into this dark and broken world.

Ultimately I believe in the Church because Jesus believes in the Church.  He has wept, bled, and died for the Church.  Jesus would not have come to earth, been rejected by people He loves, and died painfully on the cross if He did not believe we were worth it.  Similarly He would not have left His ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-20) to us if He did not believe in the Church.  

Grace is not a one shot opportunity; Jesus did not give us just one second-chance but instead opened the door for us to come home.  I may want to limit how much I forgive the Church, but Jesus in His infinite forgiveness of my sins has not called me to be limited in forgiveness.

Instead may we also sacrifice for the bride whom Christ has declared to be worth it.

Re-Entry Into Life Post-Missions Trip

And we're back....

This last week I had the opportunity to go on our ministry's missions trip to Baja California.  We arrived home just two nights ago.

And now to begin the re-entry process.

I am always depressed after a missions trip.  For a week (however long) it is like we step out of time into some alternate world.  We have awesome encounters and crazy Jesus-y experiences.  And then we step back into reality as though nothing happened and nothing changed.  And I hate that.  I hate coming home to a world which is exactly the same as I left it. After all these experiences I just had I am not the same.  I am changed.  But my surroundings are not.  And it can be so easy to default back into old patterns.  But by doing so I begin to act like everything is the same.  The passage of time also threatens my experiences, to wipe away and dilute out everything I have seen.   I hate the idea I will lose sight of all these powerful experiences.

There is also the fact these children and these people, who just days ago I was helping and serving, are still there and still in need.  Meanwhile I find myself back at home in my comfortable life-style.  There was this sense on the trip that I was actually doing something, living for God, accomplishing something.  Now I am home and what am I doing?  What purpose am I achieving now?  I have to recalculate and re-calibrate my daily purpose.

All of this can be exacerbated by people (understandably) wanting to know how the trip was.  How do you capture in a sentence everything about the trip?  "It was challenging" or "it was life changing" just cannot express everything I want it to.  It can feel like I devalue the memories by trying to reduce them into a couple words.  But it can also be overwhelming for you and your friend when you go into the 55 minute answer to the question "how was Mexico?"  I find myself wanting to be around those who also went, who are also processing, because we do not have to explain anything.  Even if we are not talking about our experiences we understand without words what each other are going through.

I do not want to forget Mexico.  I do not want to forget the people I met in Mexico.  I do not want to forget all God taught me in Mexico.  It was only a week and the experiences were not too different from other missions trips I have been on, but still the truth is I am different and things are not the same.  The challenge ahead is figuring out how to walk in this truth.

Shakespeare, Jesus, and fandom

I remember in middle school being grudgingly forced to read a few classic works by William Shakespeare.  Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and at least one other which I have forced from my memory.  Having grown up around people reading old school King James version of the Bible, understanding the Shakespearean language was not too difficult for me.  But throughout middle school and high school I rather despised Shakespeare. Honestly for me it was not Shakespeare himself who bothered me, it was the fans.

You can spot a Shakespeare fan a mile away.  Just say his name, any character's name, or sometimes even words like "doth" and "yonder" and their eyes light up, glaze over, and they begin foaming at the mouth.  By the time I reached high school I was sick of English teachers swooning over his words.

But somewhere in college I decided to give Shakespeare another chance.  I accepted maybe there was a reason for all the hype even if the fans drive me crazy.  I realized my issue was not with Shakespeare.  Once I got over this I discovered I do in fact appreciate Shakespeare.  

I feel Jesus can get the same kind of backlash from His fans as Shakespeare.  Too many people dismiss Jesus because of His fans; hypocritical, not relatable, and broken.  It is sad to think people can miss the God of the universe because of some crazy fans.  What is the solution?  Do we need to set standards before someone is allowed to be a part of the Church?  In an age where marketability and branding are so important do we need to protect our image from anyone who might infringe upon our trademark or defame Jesus and the Church?

Some people get upset when the Church is full of broken people, but this is exactly what the Church was created to be, a body of broken people seeking after the one who can save them.  While it would be nice if the Jesus fans could behave in a more marketable fashion, most of the burden of missing the Truth lies with the person who judges based on the fans.  Who are we to dictate what the fans and followers must be like before we will make the commitment?  It is true dealing with other broken people as a broken person can be aggravating, but Truth is not determined by fandom or popular vote.  Jesus is worth it whether His fans act like it or not.

What do you do when a poor kid hands you food?

What do you do when a poor kid hands you food?  Specifically, what do you do when this poor kid, Iago, hands you food?

Let me back up.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to go on a missions trip to Brazil.  It was a life changing experience.  We worked in a favela (slum/squatter village) called Jaragua on the edge of the city of Bauru.  For a week we spent all daylight hours playing with the children of prostitutes and drug dealers.  We ran around the dirt streets, gave piggy-back rides, and just spent time with the kids.

One of the most amazing experiences for me happened on the second to last day.  All week we had been giving out food whether bread rolls, gummy vitamins, or snacks.

On this second to last day I was sitting down between games of tag when Iago came over.  He proudly showed me the snack bag he had just been given, sat down in my lap, and began to eat.

And then he offered me a piece. . . 

You have to understand a couple things.  

1.  I studied microbiology in college, I know too much about diseases.

2.  Iago was not hungry.  Not hungry enough to even think about sharing his food.  These kids never get enough food.  After a week of our giving out food this child is full, full for the first time in who knows how long?

3.  For this first time in who knows how long Iago has the opportunity to give something to someone else.  For once his circumstances did not require Iago think only of himself.

So what do you do when Iago offers you food with his dirty favela hand?

You reach out with your dirty favela hand and you eat the gift he just offered you.  And you praise Jesus for the work He is doing in that moment which you are privileged to be a part of. 

Sure you say a little prayer asking God to kill the bacteria and inactivate any viruses, but mostly you thank God.

It makes you wonder if we really believe it is better to give than to receive?  If so then at times we should gratefully give others the opportunity.  

It is so easy in the face of such extreme poverty to think I am here only to give, to serve, to provide for these children and these people.  But there can be pride in thinking I have everything to give and others have nothing to offer me.  They are people too with plenty to offer others.  My focus should be less on what I can give and more on how to truly love and serve these children, whether giving or receiving.  It can be a hard balance at times, but my goal should be on what best serves them not on what best serves my feelings to serves.  As many people prepare to go on short term missions trips may we keep these ideas in mind.

Stellar Group Health

Churches, college ministries, small group communities, etc are like stars.  

Within a healthy (stable) star the dominant forces are the gravitational force (stars are really big) and the expansive force (stars are really big nuclear fusion reactions).  Normally a star's stability comes from a balancing of the gravitational pull inward and the expansive push outward.

Disturb this equilibrium and we get things like supernovae and black holes.  Without gravity a star's explosive nature would rip it apart.  Without the expansive force the star undergoes gravitational collapse, then supernovas, and creates a black hole.

Christian communities are like stars.  Discipleship is like gravity and outreach is the expansive force within a given community.  For a group to excel we need a balance of both.

With a "no discipleship all outreach" mentality a community will send people out, but will have nothing to draw them back in.  Eventually the group will come unglued and drift apart.  It is hard to stay committed to, let alone invite others into, a group that has nothing to offer you.  It's a used car salesman sort of situation; things seemed to interesting until you signed up.

A group without outreach will become too inward focused and the group will collapse in on itself.  As cliques form and the group breaks down many of the former members will leave like the supernova blast before the final celestial death.  A black hole is so named because even light cannot escape from its gravity.  It is invisible to anyone on the outside and dead to the world.  You cannot be the light of the world if no one else can see you.  

Instead of either scenario discipleship and outreach should reinforce and spur each other on.  As we mature our desire to reach out should only increase, and outreach should drive discipleship.  

In my experience our tendency is the inward discipleship of those already within the group.  This is fine, it simply means that more attention must actively be given to outreach and evangelism.  If our default is inward may we work all the more to push outward for others, ourselves, and the health of the group.

And so may we be the "light of the world" that "the people who have walked in darkness" may see a great light. Christ has come into the world, let us walk forward in that truth.

I raise my hands against Gnosticism

I was raised in a Presbyterian church.  It has been nicknamed the "frozen chosen" because during worship/hymns no one moves, wiggles, or even claps.  I kid you not when I say that my dad and I used to be the rebels who would sway to the hymns in the front row.

Then I came to college and joined Chi Alpha.  The music was contemporary with a worship band and everything.  And people raised their hands.  It took me a while to stop judging and to accept that there may actually be sincerity in this gesture.  But it wasn't for me.  Swaying was as far as I'd go.

During fall my junior year God began a process of leading me into raising my hands.  At first it was only in my prayer times as a symbol of reaching out to God.  Then at a conference I felt prompted by God to hold my hands out as a sign of receiving/yearning to receive from the Lord.  During DCF I began to hold my hands at my side as symbolic of Holy Spirit flowing over me.  Now in worship I raise my hands over my head and sometimes I dance like an idiot.

For a lot of us this can be a difficult process.  Somewhere along the way American Christianity picked up (perhaps from the Puritans with their belt buckles on every article of clothing) this Gnostic idea that our bodies are evil.

Our bodies are not evil, we are not merely waiting for death so that we can shed these earth-suits, but we are anticipating our resurrection bodies.  After His resurrection Jesus had a physical body.  In Heaven we will have physical bodies.  It's not about discarding the physical, but utilizing it.

There is this connection within my self, body and soul.  It's the reason why fasting in scripture is a physical fasting of food.  It's the reason why in Communion there is a tangible partaking of the elements.  There are greater things at work than mere symbols.

Through this progression of hand movements God has taught me the power of using my physical body to worship God.  My mind alone is not sufficient because I am not merely mind.  My emotions are not sufficient because I am not only emotions.  Nor is just raising my hands the point.  The point is to engage and involve all of me in worship.  So I dance like an idiot sometimes.

Why Christians need hobbies other than Jesus

An issue facing the American Church today is that Christians need hobbies other than Jesus.  If we are to be able to relate to our neighbors and coworkers we should have things we like to do other than pray and go to potlucks (don't get me wrong, I love to pray).  Instead of "in the world but not of the world" it is easy to become "not in the world but of the world."

Mark Batterson once expressed the idea that maybe sermons are often boring because the pastor's life is boring.  And that applies to all of us as ambassadors of Christ, why would the world be interested in a faith that's tedious?  I am not saying let's water down the message to be hip and relevant, but instead let us strive for excellence in devotion and excellence in relating and reaching out to other people.


The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor 9: 19-23 " I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some" and we should be creative in how to apply this principle to our lives.  For example I think Christians should not just listen to Christian music.  I have been the person who killed the conversation when asked "what kind of music do you listen to?" . . . "Christian . . ." (awkward silence).  Similarly I  love prayer meetings, but if I spend all my free time in prayer meetings I am not cultivating other talents and abilities that God has given me the opportunity of.  How will we get to know non-Christians if the only thing we have to talk about is Jesus?


Having hobbies other than Jesus also benefits the existing Church and church members.  From the many years I have lead small group bible studies I have found that one of the greatest difficulties is cultivating community within the group, to get the students to hang out with each other than once a week at bible study.  I have also observed that often most of the people in any give study have only had Jesus in common.   Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful to see totally different people united in Christ, and how Jesus is not just for one particular group.  But would it not help us individually, and the community at large, if we could progress from only a common interest in Jesus toward having more in common with one another.  To be a group that values being interested in what others are interested in.  How welcoming would that be?


The most convincing argument of this for me is Jesus himself.  From what I can tell Jesus lived a really full life.  He is not boring.  He had character and He related to people.  As a follower trying to reflect Christ to this world I should live similarly.

Some Things Every Chi Alpha Needs

• Duct Tape
• Staple Gun & the correct staples for that gun
• Butcher paper
• Paints for butcher paper
• Sound system
• Prayer meetings
• Vision
• PowerPoint capabilities
• A Drummer
• Free Bibles
• Holy Spirit
• Students
• Flier printing abilities
• Graphic designer (for fliers)
• Hammer/Rubber mallet for putting up stakes on campus
• Balloons (helps with tabling)
• Sharpies
• Website
• Photographer
• One on one's
• Internet
• Tools for Mentoring by Joy Schroeder
• Rubber bands, paper clips, and push-pins
• Music stand
• Good core groups/small groups/cell groups/bible studies
• Whiteboard, pens, and art aisle
• Chicken suit or other random animal costume
• People who care about the community
• A Ministry budget

Financial Martyrdom

This post is inspired by some profound words of Renee Hammond, and Curt Harlow's big screen TV

As someone who's income is based upon support given by a team of individuals, it is really easy to feel that part of the Call into ministry includes carrying the cross eternal poverty and financial martyrdom. Simply put to be in ministry means you will be poor.

Always.

But this is not true and it's not biblical. Full time vocational ministry is a worth-while career, and it is worth being paid to do. Paul wrote to Timothy, a young pastor, that "the scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,' and, 'The laborer deserves to be paid'" (1Tim 5:18) quoting from Deuteronomy 25:4 and Jesus' teaching in Luke 10:7. Jesus lived and funded his ministry on support (Luke 8:3). Paul lived on support, and only did tent making when the people were too immature (new) in their faith to properly support him. (1 Cor 9:1-14)

As ministers we should not live or work with this thrifty, cut-corners, cheap poverty mentality. We are not called to be poor. We are called to be good stewards with our resources, but that call is for all followers of Christ. James writes that those who teach will be judged harsher (James 3:1) but is in regards to how we are viewed by others, and does not mean ministers should be poor, but that they should set a good example in how to wisely spend money. A poverty mentality is not beneficial to God's call on our lives.

Honestly we have this concept of ministers being financial martyrs not based on scripture, but our own uneasiness with money and our belief in the American Dream. I have found that our hesitancy is rooted in our insecurity of humbling ourselves and asking others for help; of being dependent on others rather than being autonomous and self-sufficient. But as much as America may preach that message, when we examine God's word He says the exact opposite. Even in the OT (Old Testament) the priests and Levites lived off of the sacrifices of the people offered to the Lord.

So while everything in my flesh tries to discourage and resist, I choose to live on support, to provide for my family on support, and not to be poor.

Group Genetics

Back at the beginning of March the students in DCF's sister group at Woodland Community College, WCF, hosted their first outreach on campus. On March 3rd we gathered by the Library and gave out about 50 free slices of pizza as a way to bless the WCC community. It was a hit! Once people realized that we were seriously giving away pizza they gladly received.

What is funny is that free pizza was how WCF began. Back in August when Will and I were founding the group we started by giving away free pizza as a way to meet people and introduce ourselves to the WCC community. We met several of our students that way and it was great. Six months later when we were brainstorming for our March outreach the only idea that came up, and was brought up by several students, was free pizza.

It seems that free pizza has become a part of the WCF DNA, part of who the group is, what the group does. A precedent has been set, something good to be aware of.

This setting of a precedent, this genetics of a group can also be seen within Protestant denominations.

For example the conditions of the Catholic Church that Luther, Calvin, and other great reformers were reacting to still has effects upon these Reformed denominations. At the time of the Reformation the Catholic Church was causing some abuse and distortion of the Gospel to which the Reformers reacted against.

Also though there was great reason for the Protestant Reformation, there are some deleterious genetics born from such actions. Protestantism with all of its benefits started as a reaction to what they did not approve of. Though much of the Reformers' disapproval was based upon solid biblical truth, it introduced the precedent of reactionism into Protestantism. Ever wonder why there are so many Protestant denominations today while there is still only one Catholic Church? (there is variation within Catholicism as within any group that size, but unlike Protestantism it seems to be without the cost of unity) Protestantism started by breaking away from the establishment, and it has continued to splinter.

So it seems that there are many significant precedents and a lot of group genetics established whenever a group forms. The founders and pioneers can have a greater impact upon the entirety of the group than one would initially think, introducing group DNA or thoughts and precedents that carry on afterward.

A realization

Something I should have realized a long time ago:

Living for God and seeing his kingdom advanced on earth is not equal to ministry