Ruts—Risk or Reward?

I’ve been on some really muddy roads in some very deep ruts.  In those slippery, muddy situations the ruts can be helpful. When your wheels are tracking in the rut, they protect you from slipping into a ditch—just follow the rut, and eventually you are led to a more drivable section of road.

However, by and large, I’m not a big rut fan.  It seems all of us can fall prey to life ruts.  Some might call them routines, and there is a similarity, but I imagine routines easier to break than escaping from deep ruts.  Life ruts aren’t normally something we chose but something that just happened while we were living life.

It might be the rut of a nice family tradition. That special place the family rendezvous annually. Could be a holiday rut. Or maybe one Sunday morning years ago one of the men in the family was up early and decided to make pancakes for the family.  It was a hit, so a few weeks later it happened again, and then again.  Before anyone realized it, there was this pancakes-fixed-by-one-of-the-guys-on-Sunday rut.  And over time when someone in the family wants something else for Sunday breakfast, or to go out, there is resistance because we find comfort in the rut. After all, it is “our” rut.

Whether we call them ruts or habits, routines or traditions, we’ve all got them.  Even the most avant-garde family member has them, even if they are simply the arguments against having them!

I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t have them, but I am suggesting that we could be healthier, freer, and more engaged with people in our communities if we would intentionally consider our ruts.  Since so many of them just happen while we are doing life, it is probable that some are really worth continuing, even fostering, while we would do well to jump from the deep track of many of our not-so-helpful ruts.

So I suggest that maybe you make list of your routines, habits, traditions, or ruts.  Then, as you have them in front of you, ask yourself these seven questions:

1.     If this wasn’t a rut, would I choose to spend my life this way?

2.     How does this rut make my life more difficult?

3.     And conversely, how does this rut make my life easier, better, richer?

4.     Would I have trouble defending this rut to a close friend or total stranger?

5.     Is this rut so important and valuable that I would invite others to join my rut?

6.     What might be a better option than this rut?

7.     Thinking wisely with good counsel in line with scripture, do I now consciously choose this “rut”—habit, routine, or tradition—as a valuable rut for me?

Since so many of our ruts “just happened” from living life, we have the freedom, the power, and maybe even the responsibility to think about life’s ruts.

A verse comes to mind with which I’ve taken a little liberty in the translation:

“There is rut that seems like the right rut but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12

Just seems like a word of advice to all of us whose ruts may have become just a bit too comfortable.

Andy McDonald

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

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

Behind the Facade

Last week I had the opportunity to visit with a friend who is in the hospital recovering from a serious accident. As I was visiting with his in-laws, they were talking about the conversations that had taken place while he was under the influence of anesthesia, or pain medication, or whatever.  They mentioned that you really get to see the character of a person in these situations.  The effects of the medication removes our filters, and "the real you" comes out.  In this case, it was simply more proof of what an amazing man my friend is.

This story had me thinking about how open and honest we are with each other.  In this age of photoshopped pictures and manicured social media profiles, how exposed do we allow ourselves to be?  It has been said that character is who you are when no one is looking.  Would people truly recognize the real you from your "public persona"?  

Several years ago I had to confront my own dichotomy between who I was and who I presenting myself to be.  I took a chance and opened myself up.  I found friends who embraced me and loved me in all of my vulnerable sincerity.  I found a new freedom to live my life with honesty and genuineness.  I trusted the love I received because I knew it wasn't based on false pretenses.  

Regardless of how we present ourselves to others, God knows us. He sees the things we hide, and he is not fooled by our facades.  And yet he loves us - more than we can ever understand.  When I recognized this fact and truly embraced openness and honesty with both God and those around me, I experienced love and freedom like never before. 

Chad Hess

Earning Heaven

“Will God keep me out of heaven because I don’t take better care of my mother?”  It was an unexpected question that came from a soul that had been tortured for more than fifty years.  The question was followed by a litany of explanations for her behavior and decisions regarding her mother. It seemed important that she be able to justify her behavior and convince me, or perhaps God, that she was a good person despite the way she has treated her mother for the last 50 years.  

Truth be told, after listening to her torment of the last fifty years, I had a hard time finding fault and was not at all sure that I would have done any better.  But the thing that was most concerning was not her behavior or decisions. It was her deep need to justify her actions.

Will God keep me out of Heaven because . . . ?  It’s not such an unusual question.  I’ll bet you’ve asked it yourself, if only silently.  Will God keep me out of heaven because . . .

• I’m divorced
• I can’t stop drinking
• I’m gay
• I abandoned my kids
• I wear jewelry
• I don’t give enough money to church
• I can’t stop looking at porn
• I belong to the wrong denomination
• Of my business practices
• Church people disgust me
• I smoke
• I was born in the wrong country
• My father abused me
• I’m a bad person
• I haven't been baptized
• I quit going to church

Maybe you see a question here that resonates. Maybe yours simply hovers in your conscience.  I expect that, as you look over this list, you may see some things that cause you to say, “Why would anyone even think that’s a problem?” and others for which you might banish people, were you God.

There is much talk inside and outside Christian circles today about “sin”, and we all seem to be trying to nail down exactly what it is and what it is not. We want a good definition, a list, a standard to which we can measure ourselves (or more likely each other) to see if we’re sinners . . . if God finds us acceptable. If we can’t gain sufficient comfort in a list of rules, then we search for reasons why we’re not responsible. “I abuse my kids because my father abused me,” “You have to be shrewd in business to survive,” “The people at church are money grubbers and hypocrites.”

I’ve become tired of the conversations around determining what is and what isn’t sin and how our environment or genetics are the truly responsible agents. I’m tired because these arguments are framed to miss the point.

We have become a society, and all too often a church, that advances two ways in which we can be justified. We convince ourselves that either: there is nothing wrong with what we’re doing, or It’s not our fault.  Either of these conclusions cuts us off from the redemption we find in Jesus.

The truth is that we are all hopeless and helpless sinners mired in our own depravity with no capacity whatsoever to rise above our own sin, AND there is nothing on the above list or any other that can separate us from the love of God through Jesus. We will never develop a list that will keep us from being sinners, and we can never use our human condition to mitigate our responsibility.

To be human is to have shadows on our conscience. What makes all the difference is what we do with them.  We are sinners. Jesus is our friend, our Savior, and our only hope.  When we truly embrace these core truths, perhaps then we can explore all those questions of secondary importance without the need to either condemn or justify ourselves or our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Ultimately, I passed along to this tormented soul one of the few truths of which I’m certain and on which hang all my hopes. “There is absolutely nothing that we can do to get us into heaven and nothing we can do that will keep us out, and that is good news indeed for me.”

John Monday