Adopt a pet - Steve
I spent the bulk of this evening listening to Matt Carter (pastor of Austin Stone Community Church, in Austin, TX) and Francis Chan (pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA) speak at the Verge conference. I'm pretty rocked right now.
While they said a lot of great things, the thought sticking with me is a confirmation of so much that I have learned to be true--primarily over the last 2 years.
God IS NOT safe. Jesus Christ is the most divisive figure this world has ever seen. People love Him, and have given up their lives for Him. People hate Him, and have defamed Him in both word and deed. Most people, however, ignore Him.
Most people are content to be their own God--to go through life answering to themselves: their political agenda, their view of how things "should be", their preference of how things should be run or what makes something "right". I'm not even talking about people outside the church. I'm talking about me at many points in my life. And maybe, just maybe, I'm talking about you.
--It's the guy who complains about the worship in church, as well as the guy that defensively responds. It's the right-wing conservative who equates republicans with Jesus' people as well as the left-wing liberal who screams about separation of church and state. It's the socialist as well as the capitalist, the hippie as well as the yuppie, the activist as well as the people he or she condemns for their apathy--
Jesus approaches each one of those people and says, in essence, "I don't care what side you're on. If it isn't my side, you're wrong. And, by the way, none of you have it figured out."
The Jesus I read about in the Bible is a Jesus who told the truth... no, He knew the truth... no, He was the truth. And if you're not Him, you're not truth.
Since we're not truth, God left us with an authority not of ourselves--the Bible. He also left us with His Holy Spirit so we can not only understand that truth, but be convicted of it, speak it, and even pray in truth back to Him.
If the Bible is truth, and Jesus is truth--and if Jesus is not safe... it stands to reason that the Bible is not safe. While many people run to it for safety, when they get to that stronghold, they might just find it makes you safer in some ways, while also more endangered in others. It challenges our very existence, and certainly what we do with our existence.
The American church, historically, has sanitized this unsafe Jesus. He calls us to live biblically courageous lives in response to His radical message. Love your neighbor--oooooh, that's awkward. Provide for the poor--but what about me? Hold firm to truth--isn't that intolerant?
Radicalism in other religions means kill, destroy, hurt, force.
Radicalism as defined by Jesus means love the unlovable. Who comes to mind when I say "unlovable, annoying, draining"... yeah... that guy. Love HIM.
It means give what you may believe rightfully belongs to you. It isn't yours. It's God's. And He could take it if He chose to.
It means be in community with people--not because you need more friends, but because those people need you, and if you're honest, to be on mission, you need them, too.
It means make it clear to the world that you follow Jesus Christ--sometimes through what you do, and sometimes by actually saying it.
A lot of times, even I have chosen to follow Jesus because he's like a good puppy--protective, loving, safe, and even obedient to me, his master. It's those times, He flips me--often forcefully--and reminds me that He is the Sovereign, All-Powerful, Unsafe, Embodiment of Truth.
I don't want to follow the god who is safe for the whole family. That isn't the God of the Bible. I confess, I have yearned for that god out of my own selfishness at times. I thought I wanted God, but I wanted a pet.
Shake us up, God. May we never treat you like a domesticated companion. May we never think our way is totally right. May we never disregard the things you tell us for want of our own things.
I pray I can hold firm to the truth, and that it would be obvious by the way I love. Maybe that prayer is echoed tonight in your own heart--or maybe it is just me.