No Really You Have to SEE It!

This morning while I was working away on annual reports, I heard a fascinating little interaction:

Robin: "Did you see what Bill did in the Breakaway Room?"

Doug: "I heard that he did some work on it."

Robin: "Umm...yeah, you need to SEE the Breakaway Room!"

Bill had totally repurposed a room.  It was an amazing thing to behold. You had to SEE it. Doug went to SEE it. Robin escorted me down to SEE it, she was so excited about what Bill had done. 

I am sure she will escort others to the room who haven't SEEN it.  

I immediately had this scene in my head, 

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of h

im, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"48 Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."49 Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"50 Jesus answered him,"Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these."51 And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you,t you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." (John 1:43-51, ESV)

Philip knew that he had found the Messiah. He knew that Nathanael needed to know him too. You can almost hear Nathanael say, "I heard that there was someone like that around here." Philip's response, "Come and see." You have to wonder if Nathanael heard in this response Psalm 66:5. 

It's 2012, a new year has dawned.  What will you be about this year? Will you, like Robin, invite your friends to SEE? 

My prayer for this year is simple, "Father God grant opportunity for people to see and hear."

Love-at-first-sight

I Know Him!

There aren't many Christmas movies as good as Elf.  It's hilarious and it is also poignant. Like most other Christmas movies related to Santa Claus the issue at the center is belief, or the lack thereof. One of the best moments is when Buddy finds ou that Santa is coming to the Mall...

This scene has been in my mind for a few days now. I keep thinking about it's illustrative purposes for me as a follower of Jesus.  Buddy's excitement is overwhelming and full of passion. It is clear that he loves Santa and that he desperately wants others to know him too. Look what happens when he finds out that the real Santa isn't at the mall...

These two clips paint a picture that ought to challenge us as Jesus followers.  We do not know an omniscient, legalistic, elf.  We know the God of the universe. We know the King of kings and Lord of lords.  

Isaiah 9:6 describes Jesus this way, 

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upont his shoulder,
and his name shall be calledt
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Buddy the Elf loves Santa for who he is, he defends his honor, and desires for people to know the real Santa. When we think about Jesus too often we are afraid what people will think of us.  Often times we shy away from challenging wrong understanding of who he is at the risk of offending others. 

I want to love Jesus the way that Buddy loves Santa. 

 

Sovereign Grace - It Makes Us Go

As I continue to wrestle through the implications of theology in every day mission I am struck by a simple little question, "How do we keep at it?" We have looked at Jesus as the theological center, we have looked at the centrality of being "in Christ", and so now we must consider the role of sovereign grace in this whole thing. You may wonder why I would place sovereign grace here in the midst of this discussion. I mean, we could naturally look at the person of the Holy Spirit and his role in the incarnational church.  We could naturally look at the importance of the Scriptures.  However, it seems to me that we need to grapple with how we get "in Christ" and we need to come to grips with the sovereignty of God in all that we are. I think the best place to begin is with a little Bible, Ephesians 1:11-14,
"11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."
This little snippet from Ephesians is so full of goodness that we need to work through it over the course of a few posts.  Let's begin with the first phrase, "In him".  We are reminded again that the this is the central understanding of who we are people.  We are people who are "in him".  This is the primary marker of our identity. Paul wants it to be clear that to be "in him" is the context for all that follows. Ae we pursue our brief analysis of this passage we must keep our in-himness in the front of our minds.

Before the Beginning...applied

So, if Jesus is the center, his life, death, and resurrection culminating in the reality that he is Lord, how does this apply to mission? How does this reality determine how we ought to live and act as his followers? Well, that's just it, we have to follow. I really like what Rt. Rev. Dr. David Zac Niringiye says here, it has been stuck in my head. We are to be followers. If Jesus is the center then we go where he goes. We follow where he leads. We love how he loved. We extend grace like he extends grace. We engage the lost world at the expense of our own safety and comfort. We enter into relationship with people who are the same and different from us. We speak truth. We live truth. We love the Scriptures. We ask questions. If we accept the invitation to follow and we believe that Jesus is the theological center of everything then our lives cannot be lived as our own. 1 Corinthians 7 offers a helpful reminder:
You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. (1 Corinthians 7:23 ESV)
If Jesus is our center then we cannot, must not, retreat behind the walls of a holy hideout. We must, we have to step out into the lost and broken world and... engage it, question it, challenge it, transform it. Following Jesus necessarily pushes us out and into the world as transformative ambassadors who bring a story, a message, healing, love, grace, mercy, truth, transformation. To call yourself a "Christian" means you are required to go on expedition on behalf of the one who bought you.