Bait and Switch Evangelism

As I have observed us Christ-followers in recent months, personally, on Facebook and on Twitter, I have been interested in the amount of exhortation and evangelism that happens out there. This is a good thing, most likely, but a concern has surfaced in my mind. This concern revolves around obedience and… if you read this blog much…you know that is a near and dear topic (though to be honest, not one I am very good at, personally!).

It seems we need to be careful of giving a message that this is all free. While it is true that salvation is a free gift of God, not attained by working at it, so that no one has a reason to boast; discipleship is not free by any measure. I think this is why we read that anyone who can say, “Christ is Lord” is in The Way. The lordship of Jesus is a surrender of everything to his control. True discipleship costs us all that we are…even to the point of death for the Master. That message is anything but “free.”

However, I get it; if we lead with the, “this will cost you everything you have” line, we may not see as many consider joining the family. I just want us to be careful that we use a both/and approach here. Let’s proclaim that salvation is free through the mercy and grace of God; but along with that, let’s also make sure that the cost of discipleship is clear. I am not talking about a list of “dos and don’ts” here. I am talking about taking steps of obedience as God lays them before us, whatever the cost or consequence.

Maybe part of the issue for us is that the cost of discipleship in the US is, or at least seems, minimal in comparison to some cultures where death may be attached to “coming out” as a believer.

May God direct our hearts and words.

Our Juxtaposition God

It is amazing how we, as finite and flawed “jars of clay,” can hold within us the infinite and perfect God. What is even more amazing…and rather embarrassing… is how we continue to make feeble and inadequate definitions of him, as if trying to somehow contain him in our jar; understand him with our mind
.

In God exist such completely diverse elements (Monty Python reference) as justice and mercy, law and grace, power and meekness…yes, even free will and sovereignty. Our God has commanded the genocide of complete people groups, including women, children and animals, while also sacrificing his only Son to satisfy the judgment commanded by himself for the sin that those people groups committed. Even writing that last sentence is confusing, awesome, difficult and wonderful, all at the same time.

Though we will never reach the end of this because it exists in him and he is infinite, it has helped me to consider it this way. We, on earth, are enveloped by space in a similar way that all things are enveloped and coexist within God. As we look up into the night sky the view is different in each direction, though the essence is the same. Because we are stuck in one place on earth, there remain a vast number of “views” left unseen and guessed at.

Can I serve a God I can neither grasp nor understand completely? Yes, for he has grasped and understands me completely. He is the potter. I am the jar. May I serve him fully as he has designed, with gratitude!

Who moved my fine line?

I am beginning to understand that one of the most frustrating things about my walk is trying to stay on the fine line. Sitting here writing this, I am reminded of a scene streetside in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago. We were enjoying the parking lot that is traffic there when, thankfully, we got a chance to be amused watching a guy taking a sobriety test. He was desperately trying to walk that fine line…to no avail. He was doom-bent for that DUI.

No different than he, I feel completely unable to walk my fine line. First, let me say that the fine line is, I am certain, clearly defined before God. Try as I might, though, it usually eludes me. There seems to be, in fact, nothing more elusive.

Our fine line is not the same line laid out for others. We are called to our fine line. Jesus made that pretty clear to Peter just before he left. “So what if I want him to live until I return? What I want to make clear to you is; you follow me, though I am leading you to your death.” (Jeff’s paraphrase)

Then there is that annoying movement my line does. Just when I think I get it figured out and find my balance, it is no longer underneath my feet and down I go, grasping air as I choke out, “Lord save me!” You know, it seems that this happens just about the time I decide to share my success with those around me.

So, are we doom-bent to be grasping for the mercy of Jesus always, our survival resting solely on his grace and nothing else? Most certainly! He is our only hope!

What, then, is the answer for walking the fine line?

Let him carry you.

When will passion produce?

I was just listening to New Life Worship performing “Great I Am” by Jared Anderson. You can hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5CWGi82N7k

This is a wonderful song, full of honor and glory and praise for the King. During the video the camera pans the audience/congregation showing a very passionate group of people pouring themselves out emotionally before the Lord.

As I have the opportunity to travel for work, I am in many worship gatherings and have been privileged to be a part of such worship on occasion. We were visiting a church in the Los Angeles area whose speaking pastor had just returned from a short term mission experience somewhere. He was changed, no doubt, as he could neither really put into words what he had experienced nor what he should now do. At the end of his message he asked his flock how many would follow Jesus to the ends of the earth. The whole place stood to their feet, raising their hands and verbally responding. It was moving.

I found myself sitting there afterward, as everyone returned to their usual, casual selves, thinking, “What now?” Emotions had been high and passions were being poured out like water before the King…but what now? When will our passion produce? When will it spill out of our hallowed halls onto the streets outside?

Passion is so much more easily expressed in community, when expectations mesh and risk is low. Boiling passion down to “doing” in the real world becomes work that requires the commitment of time, energy and money; not a popular topic among too many. Commitment is required, though, for Kingdom growth…commitment that results in action.

Just how far will your passion take you? What if God required of you what you promised him while within the four walls of a church building or while praying quietly, alone. What will your answer be when he whispers, “Who can we send? Who will go for us?” My guess is that you will answer, “Hear am I, send me.” When you do, get ready to put action to your words. Obedience is rarely something that can be accomplished with passion alone.

Taking the Wrong Stand

NPR recently ran a series on “Losing Our Religion.” If you have not given it a listen, it would be worth your time. You can find it at http://www.npr.org/series/169065270/losing-our-religion

In one of the segments a United Methodist pastor, Rev. Mike Baughman, was interviewed. When he was questioned about the challenges posed by young adults in reference to the church taking a stand on social issues, he felt that most people expected the church to take a stand; but that, “they believe that the church has taken a stand on the wrong issues.”

Obviously this is a generalization, but too many times it resonates truthfully with my observations of ourselves. In our attempts to be, or at least appear, “holy” we risk the separation of ourselves from the very people that need us and the hope that we possess and represent. There could be few things more “anti-Christ.” Jesus ignored the “stands” taken by the church of his day and placed himself in the center of the people who needed him, though they were dirty, broken, sick and sinful; outcasts from the society around them.

A personal drive toward Christ-likeness is critical to our spiritual growth, and part of that begs a commitment to personal purity…to the extent that we are able to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of us. If that striving, however, translates into a separation from the needy people around us, the world Jesus sent us to as examples of the gospel; then, we risk taking a stand on the wrong issues.

Lest you think I am not “preaching” to myself in all of this, the following, short poem describes my life-long struggle with this very thing perfectly!

It’s ironic, but my lot,

To discern the fine line

Between right and right,

And there, on that perfect spot,

To take my stand;

Only then to find…

It’s not!