Edge of the Inside

I download podcasts from several sources I like to keep up with and listen to them as I drive, and I drive a lot for my job.  My regulars are Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Mark Driscoll, and the Catalyst podcast.  I’ll occasionally sample Francis Chan, Craig Groeschel, and the other Mars Hill, Rob Bell’s church in Michigan.  Sorry for the long set-up and name dropping ….

Yesterday, I listened to a Mars Hill (Michigan) teaching by Kent Dobson that dealt thoughtfully with a subject that interests me, and that I see fellow Christians handle in different ways.  He talked about how Jesus dealt with organized religion and described Jesus position as being “on the edge of the inside.”  In other words, Jesus was critical of the religious leaders for hypocrisy, and told people not to imitate them, but to exceed their righteousness.  Jesus said He came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  And He threw the money changers out of the temple and whipped people that abused God’s laws for their personal gain, but in Matthew we find this interesting exchange:

After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

 Yes, he does,” he replied.  

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?”

 ”From others,” Peter answered.

 ”Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”  Matthew 17:24-27 (NIV)

My interpretation of this is that Jesus is saying that the taxes the temple officials were trying to extract from Him were illogical and wrong-headed, but ultimately they were not worth fighting over.  Jesus chose not to offend in this case, not because He thought the tax was a great idea, but becasue it wasn’t a battle He thought worth fighting.

In these instances, what we see is that Jesus actually operated on the “edge of the inside” of Judaism.  He was inside, but felt the freedom, even the obligation, to push walls that religion always puts around God.  Dobson suggested, if I interpreted him correctly, that as Christians the two easiest paths  we can take are to either 1) simply fall inside religioius tradition and become part of the self-preserving entity that organized religion gravitates toward becoming, or 2) simply chuck the whole thing and attack organized religion from the outside.  But the position Jesus took, and the one Dobson suggested his listeners take, is to live in the tension of being on the very edge of the inside.

Maybe this is a particularly long way to get there, but this spoke to me in a powerful way.  I think this practically means that I am to be an actively involved part of a local body of orthodox Christians, that strange and wonderful and ridiculous and frustrating and gorgeous religious institution called the church.  I am to be inside, but it’s Ok – even good - to be on the edge of the inside.  I can criticise, but from the inside trying to make things better; not from the outside just throwing stones.  I can and should use my voice and my life to influence my church and the church in general towards pursuing God’s heart…loving Him and other people more than safety, security, and the status quo….but the model Jesus used was that He leveraged His influence from the edge of the inside.

Advice

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.   Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)

One of the ways God speaks to us is through wise counsel.  Lots of time I won’t ask for advice.  Ususally it’s because I don’t think I NEED any advice.   it’s simply pride.  I have a plan.  I’m our own person.  I’m doing  It it my way…to quote a song that in the absolute antithesis of Christianity IMHO.  What I’m doing and the way I am living my life seems right to me.  And if I DID as for advice, I know what they would probably tell me…..and that is simply annoying.  It’s none of their business really.  Proverbs says that is the way of a fool.  It’s better to be wise.  And it hurts less over the long run.

As a side note, when I have asked for advice from Godly people and have chosen to ignore it I have learned to regret it.

Insomnia Induced Post

I can’t sleep so you readers get a little bonus post.  Our pastor spoke the other day about the fact we need to really take God seriously.  He used some verses from Exodus or Leviticus, I forget, about Aaron’s sons getting smoked by God for not respecting and obeying God.  He talked about how serious we need take coming into God’s presence.  I wholeheartedly agree, but the next day I read this post from Jon at his blog STUFF CHRISTIANS LIKE.  I’ve copied a few lines below that capture my experience and is, IMHO, both excellent theology and heartbreakingly beautiful writing.   Here’s Jon:

“Do people have a harder time seeing God as a serious entity or seeing God as a joyful, loving entity?”

I know the answer in my own life. I have never, ever struggled to see God as a serious individual. I have never doubted that when you enter His court, there are serious issues on the table and serious discussions and serious missions. In addition to writing about how I have often “painted God mad,” I would say that for more than 30 years on this planet, I have been awash in the seriousness of God.

But love has been so much harder. Seeing God as someone that laughs with me and kids with me and rolls down hills of grass with me on lazy Tuesdays in June has been such a bigger challenge. Seeing Him as someone that cares about the little things that no one else notices or as someone that collects my tears in a jar as Psalms says has been difficult. Believing that it gives Him joy to see me writing or playing Frisbee or a million other things has been hard.

Things are changing though. In the last few years, He has been showing me that He is more flowers than thistles more laughter than wrath, more open hand than closed fist. Is He serious? Without a doubt. Do I still feel like it’s a big deal to come into His court? Certainly, only now I think it’s OK to arrive there by water slide.

Unselfish

Our Home Group met this past Monday night and we were discussing what selfishness looked like in the church.  On of the teenagers, OK-my oldest, blithely commented that he figured that if everyone at our church actually tithed then our new building would be paid off, we could make some proposed renovations to an older structure without borrowing, and we’d have money left over.  Teenagers say that kind of stuff. 

Then in the Tuesday morning men’s group I go to, one of the wide-eyed radicals in the group talked about it broke his heart to see all the extra we have for luxuries, while there were poor people right in our own backyard that go without and really struggle to make ends meet.  He actually proposed that as individuals and as a church we were supposed to do something about it.  And, not finished with that, he went on to add it was more than just throwing a few dollars in the pot every now and then and walking away, that we needed to get involved in these people’s lives and actually live out the faith we claim to have.  Like we’re supposed to care about people and do something about it even if it is inconvenient and costly!?

My family and friends can be really annoying sometimes.  And that guy Paul who wrote so much of the New Testament was the same way. 

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Philipians 2:4 (NIV)

Indescribable

Who can be compared to the Lord our God who is enthroned on high?  He stoops to look down on heaven and earth.  Psalm 113:5-6 (NLT)

We just got back from a cruise through the Inside Passage of Alaska.  I’m a redneck from SC and still get a kick out of looking out the window of the airplane as we fly.  What I enjoyed most (besides spending a week with my wife) was just looking at sea, and sky, and mountains, and trees, and flowers, and glaciers, and eagles….many of which looked different from what we got down South.

The verse above says God “stoops down” to look on heaven and earth.  Wow!  I’m looking up and around and am always trying to stretch and get to where I can see more and see farther.  I strain my eyes to just get a glimpse of a whale or a bear or a spot somewhere on the horizon.  And God has to stoop DOWN from above to see it all! 

Alaska reminded me how small I am…… and how big our undescribable God is.

Of course the title of the post is in reference to Chris Tomlin’s song and Louie Giglio’s teaching…both highly regarded by yours truly.

Back Home

Just back from a cruise to Alaska with my lovely bride.  We’re attempting re-entry after being gone 8 days and leaving the house in the hands of our two teenage sons.  It will take us a few days to get back on Eastern time, regain our land legs, and dig out from the dirty laundry we brought back…and from the wreckage the boys made in our absence.  Thanks to our friends that checked in and checked up on them while we were away.

Sorry to leave the blog post-less for so long.  I realize that’s a sin in blogworld, but I’m a slow thinker and can’t type and I was too cheap to pay 75 cents per minute to use the internet on-board.  I’ll be back in the blogging saddle early next week.  Until then, my most profound thought on returning from Alaska….wait for it…. GOD IS REALLY, REALLY, REALLY BIG.  Seriously.

Why use us?

As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.   He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.   And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!  Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  Acts 9:3-6 (NLT)

Saul gets up from this experience blind.  Over and out.  That’s all.  The Saul is led into Damascus and three days later……

Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!”   “Yes, Lord!” he replied.   The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.  I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”  Acts 9:10-12 (NLT)

Isn’t that odd?  Why would God use Ananias, or any of us to act and communicate on His behalf?  God is obviously way more than capable of instant and crystal clear, if somewhat devastating, communication to any of us.  Saul could certainly vouch for that.  Yet God uses a man, even a reluctant one, to lay hands on Saul and assist in his healing and conversion.

And though He can dazzle and overwhelm us any time He chooses, God still primarily acts in people’s lives today through flawed believers, members of His Church, individual parts of His body.  That’s amazing, isn’t it?

Election Made Simple

Unless Jesus comes back in the next few months, John McCain or Barak Obama is going to be elected the next president of the United States.  This will happen whether you vote or not.  Get over it.

McCain is a military man and former POW with a long record of taking stands for what he thinks is right.  He has been is willing to break stereotypical molds and oppose the wishes of some of his presumed friends and allies to bring about change he supports.  He’s not as idealogically conservative as some Republicans would like and seems uncomfortable discussing faith in God.  Frankly, he’s an older white guy who just isn’t a compelling communicator.  McCain basically thinks the country is pretty darned good but that our way of life is in danger and we have to be prepared and willing to fight to defend ourselves. 

Obama is very bright and one of the most talented speakers I’ve ever heard.  Some of his words and campaign themes are much, much, MUCH more thoughtful than I’ve heard in a long time from a Democrat.  My perception is that his actual postions are farther to the left than his rhetoric and are  pretty liberal.  He thinks government should collect more tax money to redistribute,  that individual moral choices are mostly relative, that morality includes social justice,  and that we should be able to talk enemies into becoming our friends if we’re nice.

I know those are simplistic explanations, but they’re better that what you get watching the news. 

Regardless of who you suppport, here’s the Christian position on the election.  Pray for both of them….and pray hard!

 

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.   1 Timothy 2:1-3 (The Message)

New Foundations

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.   But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.   No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.  Ezra 3:11b-13 (NIV)

Nothing here on earth is permanent.  It is ALL temporary.  Things change.  Period. 

The Jews returning from exile had the opportunity and the priviledge to rebuild God’s temple in Jerusalem.  The old one was gone and they were laying the new foundation for a building that was the symbol of God’s relationship with His chosen people.  It was a big deal and people reacted to it differently.  And remember, this was just the foundation, not the finished project.   Some of the older people remembered the old temple and wept over what HAD been, while the others shouted for joy over what WOULD be.

Church buildings,  and facilities, and styles are temporary too.  Some of us are saddened when things that seem permanent to us change because we remember and love what they meant to us.  Others of us are energized by new foundations and are exited to dream of what God will do in the days to come.

To be faithful in following Christ, it’s important as individuals and as churches to constantly lean hard into what is on God’s heart and get behind that with all we’ve got.  At the same time, we’re called to love one another. 

Weeping and rejoicing can even go hand in hand and blend into something loud and beautiful that brings glory to God.  And both are better than silently doing nothing.