Seeing People As God Sees Them

A few months back I was headed home and got a text from my wife, Jane, to stop and pick up some milk.  A convenience store was close by, so I pulled in.  To be honest, I don’t know if I would have noticed the guy behind the counter, but the Christian university where I serve as chaplain had recently done a service on the theme of “Seeing People as Jesus Sees Them.”  My first thought was to feel bad for anyone who had to work the night shift in a convenience store, stuck behind a counter by yourself all night with nothing to look at but lottery tickets, chewing tobacco, and beef jerky.  

He looked to be in his thirties, and that those years had been a little rough on him.  For some reason, his scanner wasn’t reading the barcode of the milk, and he was having a hard time ringing up the sale.  I asked if he wanted me to get another, but he rather harshly said “No!” even though he was getting more and more frustrated.  I tried to engage him in a bit of conversation just to “lighten” the mood, but he was not responding.  When the sale finally went through, I smiled and said, “Thanks!” but he never even looked at me.

As I drove home in the dark, I couldn’t get him out of my mind.  I know that man is loved and valued by God, but does he know that?  I know there’s a community of believers right down the street at 2800 North Orange Avenue that would warmly welcome and love him, but does he know that?  I know that God has important work for him to do, that he was put on this earth for a reason, that he could glorify God in a way no other human being can, but does he know that?  I don’t think so.

But what am I supposed to do? Reach over the counter, grab him by the collar, make him look me in the eye, and tell him that God loves him and has a wonderful plan for his life?  Would he hear me?  Would he believe me?  Personally, I think doing something like that would be as scary for him as it would be for me!

So what do I do?  How do I love?  I’m discovering that “seeing” what Jesus sees and “feeling” what Jesus feels can really mess up your drive home at night! And that was just one person.  What about the sarcastic co-worker?  The rebellious teenager?  The elderly neighbor?  The millions who go to bed hungry every night?  What about the orphans and widows, and sick, and in prison?  What can one person do?  What can one community do?  It’s easy to get a little overwhelmed by people’s needs—to be paralyzed by the magnitude of the world’s problems, right?  Ever felt like that before?  Seems to happen to me more and more.

Bill Crofton

Redeeming Jazz in Gospel Ministry

I’ve always had struggles with preaching the gospel. Sometimes I think about others who have done it so well—the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, Paul, St. Patrick, Billy Graham—and I feel overwhelmed. Maybe it’s because of the way Christianity has been villainized in my lifetime.  Maybe it’s how I was raised.  Maybe I don’t believe enough.  Maybe.

           

I started taking our church jazz group to the local community jazz festival a few years ago with the intent of a being a church that uses their talents to join the community where they are. It has been successful to a degree of friendship, but it hasn’t been overtly evangelical.

           

Last year I played a gospel song for the first time with “Poor Wayfaring Stranger.” After the concert, my next-door neighbor, who is not a church attender, asked me why I seemed so apologetic when I introduced the song.  He thought it was fantastic. That moment was an epiphany to me.

This year we are playing mostly hymn tunes that are fantastically arranged for this medium. We will sing “He Keeps Me Singing” with the chorus line, “ Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know; fills my every longing; keeps me singing as I go.” It’s quite a bold break from the past, and I’m eager to see what will happen.

           

Music philosopher Harold Best summed it up best for me when he said:

“Serving Christ while participating in culture in an elegant and reforming way can mean a thousand things in as many places. It can mean shoveling muck and bringing clean water to a barrio. It can mean writing a new praise chorus for a storefront congregation. It can mean translating the Scripture one more time for one more faraway tribe. It can mean taking old hymns and old ways and breathing new life into them. It can mean preaching simply yet eloquently, fearingly yet sweetly. It can mean praise songs cavorting with hymns, and drums conversing with organ sounds. It can mean complete freedom in the Lord and stupendous discipline finding common ground. It can mean Bach, blues, Monet, street art, child dance and ballet, homiletics and storytelling, barn raisings and homeless shelters, all found within the normal conversation of the believing church. Elegance, for the Christian, is simply a thousand actions washed in the blood and carrying the sweet savor of Jesus' love. It is, above all, the seamless garment of worship and witness.”

I’ll keep you posted on this journey.  Keep us in your prayers as we explore bold and creative ways to redeem culture for the sake of the kingdom.

Richard Hickam

Greater Than What Divides

This week I hosted a get together for a bunch of church AV techs in the area.  We are all part of a big Facebook group for church sound and media techs around the world, but we get together occasionally at a local church to have fun and get to know each other.  We have people from mega-churches and from small churches, volunteers and paid professionals.  Our backgrounds are different, our churches are different, and our opinions are different, but I've discovered that our similarities are far greater than our differences.

As we get to know one another, we discover that the issues we face are all the same.  We all have failing equipment and diminishing budgets.  We all have grand visions and less-than-grand resources.  We all have a heart that strives to give excellence to our God who is worthy of the best. 

When we really get to know each other, we often discover that we are more alike than we are different.  That doesn't mean the differences don't matter, but it does mean that our differences don't have to divide us.  When we choose to build on our similarities and see issues from a different perspective, we can discover new ideas and new relationships.

I have gained support and encouragement from others who understand the struggle.  I have learned from others’ mistakes and have shared my own.  I have learned more about my faith by talking with others who believe differently.

There is much to be gained from others if we will take the time to get to know them.  There is a real beauty in our diversity.  God never intended for His church to be all hands or all arms; we are a diverse body of different parts that all work together for a common goal.

Chad Hess

The Face of Faith

I wrestle with faith; every follower of Jesus should.  Not because our faith is small, or it’s weak. But because it’s a mystery.

Faith is too often talked about as if it were a personal possession or a character trait.  Your marriage didn’t work because you didn’t have enough faith. Your child died because your faith was weak. Have faith, and everything will be okay.  Then when a spouse leaves the marriage, an innocent chid succoms to an illness or that promotion goes to a less-qualified coworker, the reason seems simple: you didn’t have enough faith.

The solution is equally simple; first beat yourself up for failing God, then grit your teeth and conjure up more faith! We see faith as something that is our responsibility to create, and if we do our job well, God will reward our efforts, “our” faith.

Matt and Bobbye are two of the most faithful Christ followers I’ve ever known.  They love Jesus; they teach Jesus; they live, sleep, eat and breath Jesus; and they exude the peace, love, and joy of those that follow Jesus constantly.  Yet on June 25th, 7000 volts of electricity passed through Matt’s body, nearly killing him. Bobbye was present at the scene to bear witness to the horror.  Matt has endured nearly a dozen surgeries and remains bandaged today, with the prospect of more surgery to come.  He has suffered what has been described as the worst pain a human can endure and literally lives today with his scars on his sleeve for all to see.

Yet the faith of Matt and Bobbye is intact . . . fully intact, flourishing, and growing.  Why? Don’t they understand that if they had more faith this would never have happened? Don’t they know that things like this only happen to those who disappoint God? Shouldn’t they be examining their lives for their shortcomings? If Christianity is based on our personal striving, then the answer to all these questions is, Yes!  If God is capricious, punishing those who fall short and rewarding those who work hard then, Yes! If God measures us, accepting those who earn mercy and punishing those who didn’t do enough, then Yes! They and we should accept our punishment and work hard to do better.

While this might seem a completely reasonably formula, it is is utterly unChristian.

In John 9, Jesus’ disciples asked him an eerily similar question when coming across a blind man on the road. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” Jesus answered "Neither this man nor his parents sinned…

Matt and Bobbye spent several hours with our staff last week.  They told story after story of people approaching them, asking what happened, then sharing the hurts of their lives.  The woman who stopped them in the parking lot of the Harley dealer and ended up crying as she confided her pain to this precious young couple, then was comforted and nurtured by Matt and Bobbye!

            ...this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The jaded firefighters whose hearts were broken by this call.

            ...this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The medical staff who Matt began praying for almost as soon as he regained consciousness.

            ...this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The friends and family that have been participating in bible studies and spiritual support groups led by Matt and Bobbye.

...this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The church that needs to be reminded of the grandeur of God.

...this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The World Wide Wake Boarding community who love Matt without understanding the God he serves.

...this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

It would be presumptuous for me to say that this was allowed to happened so that the works of God might be displayed in Matt, so I won’t say it.  But I will tell you that is the Bible passage Matt shared with us last Tuesday.

God does not promise us wealth, or fame, or respect, or accolades, or an escape from pain or hunger or suffering or even death as a reward for our faith or anything else.  In fact, Christ followers can expect all those things and more.  

God, however, offers us the opportunity to share in the work that he has ordained.  He graciously permits us to be his hands and feet to share his love with a hurting woman in the parking lot of a Harley dealership, or the back of an ambulance, or a burn unit . . . or with our neighbors. Faith is the mysterious gift from God that fuels his work.  It flows from God, through us to a world that desperately needs his love, comfort, forgiveness and grace.  And sometimes our pain can give the world a glimpse into God’s grace.

I don’t understand it; I don’t always like it, but I trust the one who is the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Amen

John Monday

Resisting New Ways

The Psalmist and Isaiah both recommend singing a new song to the Lord.  I know it isn’t profound, but by its very nature a new song isn’t an old song!

Now I’m not just talking about songs, but practices, procedures, worship practices, and really anything practiced in a 21^st century Christian’s life. We could adopt the idea that, if something is not prescribed in scripture, then it is taboo, but that pretty well throttles any “new song.” Or instead we might adopt a guide that says, “If scripture, in direct instruction, in principle, or by inference doesn’t prohibit a practice, then it is opened to be tried, safe with which to experiment.

Obviously, where scripture is clear in setting up a prescription for the Christian, we would want to follow it.  We can’t try stealing things in more subtle ways or “new ways,” because stealing is prohibited in all of its forms. 

But when it comes to church, the services, the types, the architecture, the location, the colors, the design, etc., so much of the Bible seems to be primarily descriptive more than prescriptive. I occasionally hear people wishing the church today would be more like the New Testament church in Acts.  I’m sure there is much to learn from that early church, but why do we read Acts and so easily assume the story to be prescriptive. We think we should all be like the church in the upper room, all in “one accord” and “sharing all things in common.” We love this description of the early church and think it should be like that today.  But we don’t think Jesus casting demons into the pigs is prescriptive for us, or that just because Paul didn’t die from the snake bite that we should be required to rummage through piles of fire wood, etc. 

The religious leaders were appalled as Jesus didn’t just do things in a new way, but in a way they thought went against scriptural prohibitions. We only need to read through the “Sabbath miracles” to see Jesus ignoring hundreds of years of Jewish teaching based on the “Law of God” as Jesus sings a new song. 

Paul pushes beyond most of our comfort levels but certainly seems to be open to some “new songs” when he writes:

“Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible—but not everything is constructive.” 1 Corinthians 10:23 

Even in this very open way of thinking, there are parameters to give some guidance in that new songs (new practices) should at least be seeking to be beneficial and constructive.

In another section of 1 Corinthians, Paul writes about things which, while not prohibited, might not be wise to practice in certain groups.  While we might correctly know that an idol is nothing and, therefore, eating food offered to an idol is of no consequence, we might still refrain in deference to “the weaker brother.”   But remember the weaker brother Paul is writing about is the new believer who hasn’t matured in Christ.  We usually avoid “new songs” to not offend a long-time believer who still hasn’t matured.

I’m ready for change. Ready to “sing a new song” to the Lord.  Because I believe in the Almighty God of the universe, I don’t believe it is too late.  I believe God can inspire us and others to break free of the chains of tradition and offer our current culture, the world today, a new song.  We can learn to sing in a new cultural language. We can hold tightly the truth of God’s love and the story of salvation.  We can simultaneously find a voice, a language, practices, songs to sing that will communicate and demonstrate that love and story to today’s generation.

And God’s kingdom, one not locked in time and space, can find a fresh expression that is new in methods, looks, practices, and experiences, but simultaneously true in its representation of God and that honors all that has come before.

So I join with Martin Luther: “What is not against Scripture is for Scripture and Scripture for it.”

Andy McDonald