Jesus Wants You To Go Home

I was reading Mark 5 this morning and came across the story of the demon possessed man.  Now, I've read this story countless times but, as is often the case with the Bible, I drew something fresh from it this morning.  If you're not familiar with the story you can read it here.

Specifically, I want to draw your attention to verses 18-20.

"18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled."

This man experienced a life change.  He had an encounter with Jesus that drastically altered the course of his life.  Is it any wonder that he wanted nothing more than to spend every moment after that in the presence of the One who saved him?  But Jesus tells him no.

No.  Go home.

But not JUST go home.  "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."  You see, once we experience Jesus, once our lives have been changed by Him, it's not enough to simply want to experience Him for ourselves.  He wants us to serve Him by telling others, by living our changed lives in our communities, among our friends and family, and in our workplaces.

And we don't have to have seminary degrees or two decades of salvation behind us to do it.  This man had just been delivered from demonic possession by a presence of demons so large that they referred to themselves as Legion.  And whether that is a literal number compared to the size of a Roman legion (5,120 legionnaires plus supporting auxiliary troops) or just a figurative amount meaning a lot, there were enough to drive a herd of 2,000 pigs into the sea.  This guy was as seriously messed up as a person could be.  But he left his encounter with Jesus changed and immediately began to share it with others.  Verse 20 says he was proclaiming in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him.  The Decapolis was a group of ten cities.  This guy spread the message all over his region!

How many would never have heard the message if he had climbed in that boat with Jesus?

I guess that's the point of this post.  We love our "mountaintop" experiences with God.  Camps, revivals, worship gatherings, retreats, etc.  But we spend so much time trying to hold onto or duplicate those times that we never share it with others.  We're trying to climb in the boat when Jesus really wants us to go home.  The difference for us is that we have an advantage over this man.  While not all of us have been saved in such a dramatic fashion (although I would argue that we pay attention to circumstances that often betray the greater miracle that is accomplished when God saves us), we have the advantage of the Holy Spirit.  God is with us when we go!

God is interested in so much more than a Sunday morning.  He wants us to move from the seat to the street.  Get out of the boat.  Go home.  Share what He's done for you.  Let it show in your relationships with those around you.  Seize the opportunities that God gives you everyday.  You don't have to be a street-corner preacher, you just have to live what you say you believe.

Here's What's On My Mind At 1:30 In The Morning

• Sometimes I feel like I should blog more.  I want to.  But I don't seem to find the time.  Perhaps that's because my posts tend to be so long.  I need to find a happy medium between twitter and borderline-novella...
• I am tremendously disappointed in the amount of my tax refund this year vs. last year.
• Couple of questions regarding my current ministry projects:  Assimilation - Does anyone have a better term than assimilation?  It sounds too mechanical and seems to emphasize practicality over the real objective of spiritual transformation.  Also, any ideas from those more experienced?  Small groups - what model has worked best for you and why?
• I really need to hit up some dieting and exercising.  I don't mind the dieting so much, but I despise intentional exercise.  I need to fool myself somehow.  Oh, and this Dr. Pepper and container of chocolate chip cookies isn't helping matters...
• The Pittsburgh Steelers are headed to the Super Bowl!  Coach Tomlin is a class act and while I'm a fan of his quiet confidence, it was nice to see some real emotion shine through when he was holding the AFC trophy.  Looking forward to a great game.  Go Steelers!!!

I Know It's Last Minute But...

Check it out if you're in the Pittsburgh area!  This is tonight at 7pm at Mr. Smalls in Millvale.  It's going to be an awesome time with young adults from all across the city of Pittsburgh coming together to worship the Lord.  And yes, it's free.  So come on out, make some new friends, bring some old ones, and join us in giving glory to God!

Church Shopping: Are You a Consumer?

My last post was about how we put God in a box.  At the end of that post I concluded that we should celebrate the diversity of churches and worship styles as pieces of the bigger picture of God and representative of His creativity.  In this post I want to explore the potential downside.

The danger in such variety is in falling prey to a consumer mindset, something that touches most everything we do in America.  We church shop.  There's no denying it.

It's one thing to find a local body of believers with which you connect and are able to develop your walk with God.  We are all different.  We all worship differently, we study differently, we learn differently, we grow differently.  And we are blessed, in this great nation, to have the freedom to worship, so we have the luxury of choice.  I'm thankful for that and I would never condemn anyone for searching for the church God has for them. It's a much different thing, and a danger, when we look for a church that works for us, instead of looking for a church with which we can work.


You see, as a Christian, church is not really about you.

What?

Church is not about you.

Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy.  If we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus, we are to go to the sick, not the healthy.  Yes, we're called to gather together with other believers as the Body of Christ.  We are called to worship together.  But that's where many stop.  We (me for a long time) are comfortable sitting with other "healthy" people (we assume) and listening but never acting.  The problem comes partly from our view of the church as a place we go and not something that we collectively are.  As if "church" is a building or a service rather than the living, breathing embodiment of Christ.  More about that in this post.  And so if we are the church, and we don't go to a church, then we should be functioning in the ways that we expect the church to function.  Meaning we come together to serve, not to be served.  We come together to bless, not to be blessed.  We come together, not only to be equipped, but to equip others.  And we come together to reach the world with the Gospel of Christ, not simply to hear the Word preached to us.  When we do this, the secondary result is that we are served, blessed, and equipped because we are participating according to God's design.

So consider this your call to find a body of believers to commit to if you haven't already, to quit shopping, to worship God together, but not to expect the church to be a Band-Aid for your week. Don't be idle, get involved, make a difference with the gifts God has given you, find out what those gifts are, experiment, exercise them.  Be a producer instead of a consumer.  Serve.

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant..."  Philippians 2:1-7 (ESV)

God in a Box

God - The eternal, omnipotent, all-knowing, Creator of the universe.  Redeemer.  Healer.  Provider. Father. Friend.  Lover.  Our Peace.  Our Hope.  The Sustainer of our very existence.

A box. - Finite. Limited.  3-dimensional. Confined in time and space.  Manageable. Convenient.

We put God in a box.

Yes.  There is absolute truth.  I believe the Bible is God's Word, and so from it, we can see some of the facets of God.  We are able to see a side or two, some of His traits, but somehow we think we have the whole picture. Yes, God will never work in ways counter to how He has revealed Himself in His Word.  He is the same yesterday today and forever, but that doesn't mean we knew everything about Him yesterday, or that we will know everything today, or tomorrow.  In fact, I'm fairly certain that, as we know Him in eternity, we will continue to marvel at discovering new and wondrous things about Him.  The problem occurs when we mix what the Bible says, with what it doesn't say, what we "feel", tradition, and our limited experience.  If thousands of years of human experience multiplied by billions of people hasn't been able to define God more than in part, what makes us think we can?  I believe that we can know all we NEED to know about God through the Bible, that is its purpose as His written revelation.  But I do not believe that the Bible contains ALL there is to know about God. That would be a "box" of sorts.  And God doesn't put Himself in a box either.  Indeed, the Bible paints a picture of a God whose depths are unfathomable, whose ways are higher than ours, whose creativity is unparalleled.  Just read God's descriptions of Himself in the book of Job!

I hate the box.  I hate the box I've put Him in.  Sure, it's grown bigger over the years, but I still have to remind myself not to try to stuff Him in there.  I hate the boxes that churches have put him in.  As if we've all cornered the market on the right "version" of God.  Am I saying that doctrinal statements are a bad thing? No. They help us to convey the picture of God that we understand.  But we shouldn't represent our position as containing the only legitimate way to see God.  In fact, I think the Creator God who made such diversity, is glorified in the various expressions of worship, in the variety of focus that different "denominations" have.  The problem is when some try to sell or push their focus as the only true one.  God can be found in liturgy and God can be found in spontaneity. God can be glorified through blazing guitar riffs and through organ music.  God can use quiet, reflective people and energetic, outspoken ones.  The point is this: Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  My box is not the Way the Truth and the Life.  Church boxes are not the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  We are called to faithfully point to the One who is.  And He uses such variety in order to extend His reach, to deliver His love in as many forms as possible, so that all might hear the message and come to repentance.

Do you ever feel like you've put God in a box?  In what ways?

How do we make sure we separate expressing the importance of the message of the Gospel from disparaging the way that "others" deliver it?

Thoughts?

Snowmageddon: Unraveling the Mystery of Weather Prediction

Here in the Pittsburgh area, as I'm sure is the case in many places, we have a curious...what to call it? Tradition? Habit? Delusion? Every time that there is a forecast of greater than 2 inches of snow, things get a little crazy. Despite the fact that the majority of Pittsburghers have lived in and around this city for decades, a city well acquainted with wintry weather, it's as if every snowfall is a strange new weather phenomenon. I'm not sure where the idea of stocking up on provisions such as milk, bread and toilet paper came from, or why there is a rush on those particular products as if we couldn't possibly survive 3 days (the longest I believe I was ever "snowed in", and I live in the sticks) without them. Ok, so I agree, toilet paper is a staple, but is there a reason to stock up on it? Or does everyone coincidentally just run out right before a snow storm? I'm not certain, but I think there may be a secret pact, a conspiracy if you will, between grocery stores, salt mines, and meteorologists. Someone's getting a kick back (I'm looking at you Jeff Verszyla - you and your unusually large collection of really nice ties).

So, as a public service to you, the people, oppressed for too long by larger than life snow forecasts, I present a public service announcement.*

30 years in the 'Burgh have qualified me to comment on what I see as an egregious affront to the dignity of the people of our fine city and its suburbs. Too long you have been conditioned to stampede, like a herd of cattle, to the nearest purveyor of fine foods, dispensable minerals, and papier toilette. You have hoped, in vain, for accurate weather forecasts. So I present to you, free of charge or obligation, a mathematic formula to accurately predict snowfall amounts, despite what the talking heads may tell you.

The formula is as follows:
Amount of snow (S) forecast (where S = the mean number in inches) multiplied by the number of days (D) they've been talking about potential snowfall (not counting the day/days of said storm) minus the number of gallons of milk (M) left on the shelf in any given convenience store (preferably a suburban one in an area with plenty of snow removal competency and experience, further pointing to the absurdity of the idea of running out of milk in the "Blizzard of ___") minus the amount of convenience store clerks (C) that comment on the milk you just bought in relation to the storm (even if you bought it because you are out, not "stocking up") divided by 5 (the amount of times Pittsburgh meteorologists have accurately predicted snowfall amounts in my lifetime) equals real snowfall amount (R).

So the equation is: (SxD-M-C)/5=R

Let's plug in the numbers.
Average inches forecast (3-7 is what I've heard): 5
Talking about this storm since Saturday: 3
Gallons of milk left at the GetGo in Monroeville last night: 3
Number of clerks who commented on the milk/snow phenomenon: 2

(5x3-3-2)/5=2

Simple math.

2 inches of snow. Hardly worth a trip to the store. Be empowered.

As a childhood hero of mine was known to say, "Now you know, and knowing is half the battle."










*This post is humorous in intent. No reference to professions, industries, or particular people should be taken seriously...or litigiously. Especially you, Epic Tie Collection Man.