serve

Just yesterday I was lamenting the fact that the "escape key" on my computer is a real let down--it never delivers on the precious promises it makes. We laughingly dreamed of ways to develop worm holes that could be activated so that we could escape with the press of a button from any circumstance, conflict, or problem that we no longer wanted to be around.

Then I got to thinking how often I do use my escape key in real life. When confronted with a need that I know I should address but just don't want to give the effort, I escape. I find ways to no longer see the problem or issue, and with an out-of-sight out-of-mind flourish, I magically escape. I avoid talking to people that I know will reveal a need to me. I dodge hard conversations with humor. I stay in the nice parts of town to avoid those who lack essential goods.

The easiest way I have found to rationalize my behavior is by saying I want to make sure my family is safe. Safety is an almost unparalleled virtue in my world. We live in a beautiful neighborhood very far from the trouble spots in town... we lock all of our doors... we lock our car doors... even when the car is in the closed garage I lock the doors. I am so safe. I want to escape from difficult things because I love being safe.

I wonder if I value my safety a whole lot more than God does.

I find it tumultuously vexing (inside joke for my church family) that in Matthew 25 as God paints the picture of those who are going to spend eternity in his kingdom, he mentions that they fed, nurtured, cared for, visited, and clothed those in need. And then he says this amazing thing in Matthew 25:40...

...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

As I read this text, I was amazed to see that this text wasn't just saying that Jesus loved the poor and hungry and thirsty and imprisoned; this text says that Jesus WAS the poor and hungry and thirsty and imprisoned. He isn't merely saying he likes those in need; he says he is WITH those in need--and not just in spirit... he is there! And if he is there, then why am I so seldom there with those in need. I say I am his follower, but my actions tell a different story.

But it isn't safe there... I think.

But, if being safe means more to me than being faithful, then I am not a disciple of Jesus.

I am learning that you do not need an escape key from serving others, because...

the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

grow

I want to be a follower of Jesus. I want to be like Peter and step out on faith and walk like my master. But unlike Peter who stepped onto the water, all too often I am like the other guys that night... I sit in the boat and simply hope I am looking at Jesus.

It was Soren Kierkegaard who first put into words just how much difference there is between admiring Jesus and following Jesus. For instance... I admire Jesus love of his enemies, but I can be so petty when people criticize me. I admire Jesus' concern for those in need, but I spend so much time focusing on me and my comfort. I admire Jesus' welcoming attitude toward strangers, but my first thought is always safety.

1 John 2:6 says:

 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

So if I want to wear the name of Jesus, I need to be walking the way he walks--I have to live like him. In other words, I am the follower and he is the Lord.

You see, this is why I need other people with me on this journey in the footsteps of Jesus.

I need--we all need--a community of disciples in which we can be welcomed and loved--and be loved enough to be challenged when we fall into the trap of admiring Jesus instead of following him. Churches can focus on a lot of things that have no real substance (such as the Sunday morning show being as polished and glitzy as Hollywood could make it). But if the community of faith that you have found cannot provide for you a healthy call to actively follow Jesus in your life, then the community of faith you are in is missing the point. Churches are only healthy if they are focused on being a community where people experience an encounter with Jesus Christ. A church that is more connected to its cultural appeal than it is to Jesus is decapitated (Jesus is the head of the church). We don't need anymore decapitated churches--they hurt people. Find a group of believers who will not give up on you and will not settle for less than God's best in your life--that is a healthy church.

Discipleship is a communal process that can be difficult but is transformational and rewarding. It is about growing. And most usually it is not about being comfortable or casually entertained. It is about following Jesus because we need him more than we need anything else.

connect

Are you familiar with the story of Narcissus?

Narcissus was a hunter who was renowned not as a hunter but for his beauty. He looked good and he knew he looked good. His vanity was so great that whoever would try to pursue him with romantic interests would be pushed away because they were not as beautiful as he was. As the story goes, one day his bitter enemy who just happened to be named Nemesis, lured into the woods to a small lake where Narcissus saw his reflection. He became so enamored with the image of himself--even though it wasn't real--that he stayed there beside the pool gazing at himself until he died.

I wonder if this is a parable that our churches should know...

Sometimes churches can be so narcissistic (the word comes from the name of the character you surely noticed), that they fall in love with themselves to the point that no one is worthy of their presence and accompaniment. Instead of being a place where people experience deep connection, churches can sometimes flee from all "others" as if we were afraid the ugly of their lives would rub off on beautiful us.

Is your local church a place where people can truly connect and find acceptance? Is your local church a place the lives into the call of Romans 15:7:

 ⁷ Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

 God himself is an eternal community, and he has created us as his community to share community with others. This is our calling that is rooted in his nature. May we find ways to be places of honest, authentic, loving connection.