The Good News is that God Does Not Need Us!

On a particularly existential day we may wonder about why it is God made humanity.  I know I have found myself contemplating this.  And the answer I have often heard given is that God made us because He needed us or was lonely or something to that effect.  This sentiment is usually well intended, but the truth is that God does not need us.   However weird this may seem, it is some of the best news ever.

One of the many beautiful facets of Trinity is that it disproves this idea that God is isolated.  With Trinity God is His own best friend on levels that a finite being as myself will never comprehend.  If God gets lonely He hangs out with Himself.  God also is perfect which means He does not need anything.  We cannot contribute to God's independence.  So why is this good news?  It is kind of like eating.

Now I like food and I enjoy eating.  But I also frequently find myself eating merely out of metabolic necessity, and on those occasions there is no enjoyment in eating.  Here food merely serves a utilitarian purpose.

And this is an example of why it is so awesome that God does not need us.  If God needed us like I need food, then it means we serve some utilitarian purpose.  But because God does not need us, we can be confident that God is free then to want us.  We are not filling some void in a perfect and independent God, we exist as the overflow of His love.  In His goodness and perfection of love God created us.  That is why we exist.  And that is really cool.

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.

Emmanuel

I love the word "Emmanuel"; the concept of "God with us" (Mt 1:23) is such a profound mystery.  

The radical idea of Christmas is that God came back to Earth.  Of our own volition Humanity has only rejected God, spat in His face, and broken His heart.  And yet He sent His Son.  God came back to the world that had forsaken Him for our own destruction.

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." (Jn 1:10-11).

As far as we have run away God is relentless for us.  God has already proven that He will do whatever He can to get us back not because of our merit but His great love for us.  I would have given up on myself a long time ago, but God continues to reach out to me.  He believes in my redemption even when I struggle to.  May we seek to be as relentless in our pursuit of God as He is in His pursuit of us

Let us not jump ahead to the Cross just yet, but for now simply marvel in the great mystery of the Incarnation.  Christ has come into the World, and nothing will ever be the same.  May we ponder the implications of this and consider how to embody this faith.

Advent and Love

As Christmas Day draws near and this season of Advent builds toward it's climax, we come to the topic of love.

This poor worn English word has the burden of carrying such a variety and depth of emotions.  The word 'love' is so frequently and often carelessly tossed around.  With this usage the term easily becomes distorted and devalued.  Truth such as "God is love" (1 Jn 4:16 ) is changed to "Love is god", and we are left just as empty as before.

In contrast to this we have the ever-lasting and ever-faithful/unchanging love of God.  It is in the midst of the darkness that the light shines (Jn 1:5).  Into the brokenness God sent His Son.  To the fallen world God came as the Son (Rom 5:8).

We may misuse and misunderstand words like love, and so Jesus came to show us love.  He demonstrated what love looks like in ways not as easily altered as frail human words.  We can warp the concept of God's love to mean whatever we want, but in His incarnation we see love depicted.  He has shown us love by portraying and giving it to us.  To understand love we simply need to look to the manger and to the cross.

There is much more that can be said of love, many things that I am yet to learn, but let us contemplate this mystery of God's love coming down to show us how to love and how to live.

Advent and Joy

Joy is a funny thing.  It can be hard to put into words, and yet we all have a sense of it.

In the Gospels joy is seen as a response to the good news of Jesus and the coming of His Kingdom:  Mt 13:20, Lk 6:23, Mt 28:8, Jn 3:29, Lk 1:44.

Joy is often presented in contrast to happiness.  Happiness is described as conditional and temporal.  Joy in comparison is not derived from situation but person, specifically God.  In that sense joy is interwoven with delight.  This is not at all to say that happiness is bad, merely that happiness is fleeting while Jesus is our solid rock.  

Joy and delight stem from deep within the human soul, the purpose of humanity is to delight and be delighted in by God our Creator and Lord.  We have been created for delight, and the memory of this still aches within our souls.  Our joy is found in remembering who God is and who we have been created to be. Joy is never a solitary thing, it comes from relationship.

Are we settling for a happiness that is convenient when our truest desire is for a deeper joy?  Are we attempting to distract ourselves instead of addressing the more difficult and fulfilling pursuit?

May we remember and discover anew the good news of Jesus and His Kingdom, and may we appropriately be filled with joy.