Archives For Cost

Beauty in the Cluster.

August 31, 2010 — Leave a comment

image: NASA

One of the points of conversation following our FunDay the other day was the beauty of a cluster of churches working together with a missional focus.

We know that there’s no way The Bridge could have, by herself, provided the kind of quality event that people experienced this past Saturday during the Family Fun Day.  We could not have handled the expense, procured the necessary supplies, or raised the army of volunteers needed on our own.  One of the the things that made the day great was seeing so many of our District churches, all with different histories and of varying sizes, partnering together to love on the people of Penn Hills and demonstrate solidarity with us.

The same is true for church planting: for some churches, there’s no way they could, by themselves, daughter a healthy, multiplying church; at least not yet.  For all kinds of reasons, raising up a church planter and sending them out with a healthy team of co-laborers and maybe a good chunk of financial backing (not to mention the prayer support and cheerleading of a mother church) is not really plausible given the present reality of some churches .  But that doesn’t mean they are exempted from the call of church planting or living as missionaries in their spheres of influence.

The beauty of planting and working as a cluster is that the ‘churches that couldn’t’ suddenly CAN find themselves making a tremendous difference and planting healthy churches through partnership.

Sure, there are the needs to make sure there’s a shared vision and sacrifice and maybe someone to give point-leadership during the process… and I know it wouldn’t be easy or clean (but I haven’t yet found the easy, clean parts of following Jesus), but what I saw this past weekend is a small glimmer of what a few connected churches and groups of committed people can do when working in harmony.  It really could change the world.

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Ready for Battle: Trust

August 31, 2009 — 1 Comment

Trust <image courtesy of powerbooktrance>
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One of the recurring themes throughout Joshua is the need to follow the instructions God gives the people.  The importance of this will become painfully clear later in the story of Israel as the nation endures the consequences of ignoring God’s instruction.  But, here again in Joshua, we see something of a reminder—this time before the army goes to war—about operating within God’s parameters.  It’s a reminder that’s good for us to hear, too, when we’re looking for victory within our own lives:

Joshua 5–

2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.”3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.

4 Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. 5 All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. 6 The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

Ouch.

Think of the ridiculous notion of following this particular instruction—the people are smack in enemy territory; the simple fact of their presence is a declaration of war on the tribes and city-states in the area.  The only means of escape for the people of Israel (crossing the Jordan River) is cut off, and God gives them instruction that will keep them immobile “until they were healed.”  Strong, able-bodied, motivated warriors were needed because the danger and opposition is intense.  But instruction comes to undergo the important, sacred rite of circumcision… but doing so will put all of the fighting men out of commission.  From a tactical, human understanding, this order comes at the worst possible time and doesn’t make any sense.

Once again this is an act which speaks clearly of trusting in God’s strength and power.  Just as the people had already been reminded that God is powerful, now they are forced to trust in that same power to sustain and protect them.  Sometimes for us, just like for the people of Israel all those years ago on the shores of the Jordan River, evidence of relying on God’s power is found in our obedience even when we don’t have all the understanding we would want.

Before we fight our next battle, before we confront the thing causing our tension headaches or deal with the thing keeping us up at night, we are called to recognize and follow God’s instructions, trusting in the power of His Spirit even to be obedient, including:

Each of these can seem untimely, unfair, and uncomfortable—but it’s especially in those difficult moments when our obedience is a testimony of trust and faith in the One who instructs us; a trust His victory is coming.

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One thing I know…

July 1, 2009 — Leave a comment

3-legged-stoolWorship.
Family.
Vocation.

In the ancient world, these three things were the pillars on which the plane of ‘life’ rested.  They gave definition, boundary, and, perhaps most importantly, identity.  The same is true today: Who/how we worship, the family of which we are part, and the job or career we’ve chosen are what we often use to define us (we’ll have to discuss how far we have(n’t) come since ancient days some other time).  But with these three life-pillars, I think we can more easily relate to one of my all-time favorite stories in Scripture.  It’s found in John 9–you can click this link or just follow along from here:

Jesus is walking with his disciples when they come across a man, begging, who has been blind since birth.  One of his disciples ask why this man was born blind and Jesus’ answer was a paradigm shifting, “So God’s work can be displayed.”  And then Jesus heals the man.

Pause there for a second.

In almost every other instance of physical healing shared in the Scriptures, healing from Jesus is solicited.  Someone touches him, someone calls for him, crowds gather around him…and they are seeking his healing touch.  But not this time: the man who had been born blind has an unsolicited encounter with Christ.  Unsolicited.  Un-asked for.  He’s begging and Jesus spits in the ground, rubs spit-mud in his face and orders him to wash the stuff off.  The man does as he’s told, and he can see!

Okay, kind of weird, I’ll admit, but the story continues… the story continues, but not in the way we think it should.  When everyone should be celebrating the miracle this man has experienced, things take a dark turn.  In one moment, the main gains his sight but seems to lose everything else:

  • HIS VOCATION—what do you suppose a blind beggar does?  He BEGS.  He sits at a temple gate or some other thoroughfare and begs for money.  He can’t really do anything else.  He’s never learned a trade.  He begs.Then Jesus heals him and he can no longer beg.  His source of income has just disappeared, and it’s not like he can go to careerbuilder.com to look for some other work he’s qualified to do.  That shouldn’t be too bad, though, because he’s still got his family, right?
  • HIS FAMILY—when questioned by the religious authorities about their son’s encounter with Jesus, the man’s parents are of little help.  In fact, they put a great deal of distance between their son and themselves by relying on the fact that the man was legally able to speak for himself, meaning the parents didn’t have to come to his defense or his aid.  When he could have used their support and voice the most, this man finds that his parents are taking a very laisses faire approach to his future.  At the very least, his family ties are strained.  What happens next will probably break them.
  • HIS WORSHIP PARADIGM—The man again is answering questions about his healing and pushes the wrong buttons with the authorities.  In verse 10 we see “…they threw him out.”  This didn’t mean the man was just kicked out of the building, he was cast out of the synagogue.   He found himself “excommunicated” from his religious family.  By ‘throwing him out,’ the leaders were assuring he would be unable to join a trade, interact with his family, or enjoy corporate worship.

All because he had an unsolicited encounter with Jesus.

Everything about this man’s life has just been turned upside down.  And he never even asked for the thing which changed his life.

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But the end of the story is what fascinates me most:

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is he, sir?” The man asked.  “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

His encounter with Jesus, in a way, cost this man everything.  And yet he still chose to worship Christ because, the story indicates, Jesus offered something greater than what the man lost.  Think about that: the man has ‘lost’ everything that defined his life… but there was something bigger, greater, more meaningful in Jesus than everything that once defined him.

Jesus offers life, purpose, and hope… but he also shares in his teaching that following him costs everything. Those of us who follow Christ may be wise to ask what following him has cost us lately, because if no cost is involved we probably need to question whether we’re following at all.

What if you had an unintended, unsolicited encounter with God… and in that moment, he changed everything that defined you: who or how you worship, your family, and your job/career/vocation?  Would you proclaim, “Lord, I believe”? or ask to be left alone?

I hope I would proclaim with the man in the story: One thing I do know.  I was blind, but now I can see! and then leave everything to follow him.

In Cost, Discipleship, Encouragement, Scripture , , ,
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