"On Mission, Changing the World, and Not Being Able to Do It All"

I just stumbled across a great blog post by Kevin DeYoung. He writes:

"The Bible is a big book and there’s a lot in there. So the Bible says a lot about the poor, about marriage, about children, about evangelism, about missions, about justice; it says a lot about a lot. Almost anyone can make a case that their thing should be the main thing or at least one of the most important things. But what often happens in churches (or church movements) is that the person with the “thing” thinks everyone else should devote their lives to the “thing” too. So churches squabble over limited resources, and people feel an abiding sense of guilt over not caring enough or doing enough about the ten other things that other people in the church care about more than they do.

Maybe it’s because I’m Type A or left brained or a beaver or an ESTJ or a good pastor or a people-pleasing sinner, but I often feel like I could, perhaps should, be doing more. I could do more evangelism. I could pray more. I could invite people over for dinner more. Because of this tendency I actually prefer the “do not” commands of Scripture. “Do not commit adultery”–that’s tough if you take the whole lust thing into account. Obeying this command requires prayer, accountability, repentance, and grace. But it doesn’t require me to start a non-profit or spend another evening away from my family. I just (just!) need to put to death the deeds of the flesh, die to myself and live to Christ.

Not committing adultery is, of course, easier said than done, but the command doesn’t overwhelm me. Changing the world, doing something about the global AIDS crisis, tackling homelessness–those things overwhelm me. What can I do? Where do I start? How will I find the time? I have four small kids, a full-time job, I give much more than 10% away to Christian causes, I try to share Jesus with my neighbors, I pray with my kids before bed, I’m trying to be a better husband. So is it possible, just possible, that God is not asking me to do anything about sex trafficking right now?"

Read the entire article here:http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/08/25/on-mission-changing-world-and-not-being/

Facebook Facade

I’ve noticed something. When I am using facebook, it’s easy to build up an image of myself that looks really good. I can personalize the “about me” section of my profile to include all the best and brightest things about myself. I can post inspiring status updates, write pithy notes, upload photo albums of all the amazing things I’ve done, I can “un-tag” all of the photos of myself that I think make me look fat or unattractive… The list goes on. I can add as many friends as I can manage in order to a.) appear popular and b.) let as many people as possible see and comment on my wittiness/humor/wisdom etc…. I can control the information about me that all my facebook friends can see. It feels sort of fake.

This façade is impossible in the real, non-electronic world. My friends that I interact with face to face get to see me at my worst as well as at my best. They hear me say stupid things, since I don’t have time to think of a clever response to a comment, like I do on facebook. They see me when I’m not looking my best, they know about my stuggles and shortcomings. What do you think? In our delight over the wonders of social networking, do we end up creating a glitzy online persona that doesn’t actually portray us as we really are? Does the bulk of communication that we do over facebook lack real meaning?

Don’t get me wrong- I’m not attempting to bash facebook. I have a facebook and think it’s a great communication tool… I’m just thinking out loud about how much harder it is to “keep it real” online. It’s already tough to cultivate real community without the hindrance of social networking on the World Wide Web. Isnt’ it?

Sharing Jesus

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine about Evangelism. I thought I'd share some of His thoughts...

People who cling to this world will almost always never listen to Jesus. He gave hope to the hopeless, riches to the poor, love to the unlovable, mercy to the sinner, but to the unwilling He will not force the issue. He'll just let the issue force itself on them whether they learn it the hard way or not learn it at all. It's a hard truth.

There's a big difference between sharing Jesus and sharing one's belief. If one is not willing to partake of Christ, might as well move on to someone who needs Him more. Sometimes sharing Jesus will just require you to shut up and just listen… I can’t help but wonder how His ears were as much a great blessing to people as His words.

But greater still was His ATTENTION. THE UNDIVIDED ATTENTION OF JESUS. He'd zoom in on a sinner like Zacchaeus or single out a woman who "touched" Him- or sit face to face with a Samaritan woman. He’d have a nice dinner with a man named Levi the tax collector or come face to face with the Gadarene demonic and not turn away. He’d see crowds without a shepherd and feed them miraculously or shed a tear for a beloved friend named Lazarus… His undivided attention to people changes lives. And that is REAL power.

Greatest of all was when the Creator of heaven and earth zoomed in on each and every individual born from eternity past to future and did it with the lenses of two planks of wood and said "it is finished." now that goes beyond doctrine. What was once doctrine has become a person. A person named Jesus Christ.

People don't get argued out of living in sin or persuaded out of their wrong belief systems... they abandon those sins or beliefs without a second thought when they ENCOUNTER JESUS and his love...