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Last night was special.
What would cause three grown men
- to spend a year-and-a-half of their lives writing and rewriting books, complete with the deadlines and late nights and early mornings spent glaring at a computer?
- to leave their wives, kids, and friends for a month-and-a-half while traveling to 32 cities crammed in an RV that has a tendency to run out of gas and tear itself apart?
- to grow an obscene amount of facial hair and then shape it into Mutton-Chops?
- to write a, all-be-it catchy, song and then sing it accompanied by a wash board and a trombone played by a non-trombone player?
- to basically make, as Tony put it, arses out of themselves in front of complete strangers?
- to place olive oil in little containers, falsely advertise it as the Balm of Gilead, and sell it for up to $50 (there is a point to it all and you’ll just have to go to find out)?
What would cause them to do such things? One might think, on the surface, to sell books. One would be wrong. After just six shows Mark, Doug and Tony were exhausted. They missed their families. They were thousands of miles from home (except Mark who lives in CA). Those of us who served alongside of them in making the Roadshow happen could see these things, which were clearly evident. But that wasn’t the only thing that was evident. In fact, truth be told, these “things” only made their true motive all the more evident.
See, the Roadshow has the guise of a book tour. But don’t let that fool you. It is only a cover. The true essence of it is three guys who are deeply passionate about Jesus. Who will stop at nothing to proclaim his message of hope and restoration. Who love hanging out with other people who are seeking to follow the person and way of Jesus. Whose hearts beat with an inner God-cadence and have reconciled their fear at the feet of God, saying, “We’ll speak what we hear, regardless.” It was laughter and silence and joy and profoundness and embarrassment and gut-level sharing and music (kinda) and wisdom and friendship all rolled up into two memorable hours.
For me, the whole night (we began at 3:00pm and rolled out at 11:00pm) will be a memory that I’ll recall in my spirit for many years to come. But the things that stand out will be Doug’s recalling of when he first fell in love with Jesus in that theater-turned-church and how it has taken him many years to wind his way through the “tracts” he was given and back to the essence of Jesus, whom he found that night. It will be Tony recalling his journey from systematic theology in seminary to the simplicity of Jesus of Nazareth in the South Dakota Plains with the Lakota tribe. It will be Mark speaking in the raspy voice of the “Emperor” as he recalled moments of love-lived-out in an abandoned bus in the streets of San Francisco, only to be topped by his very passionate monologue about the Kingdom of God is at hand and right here.
In addition to the memories of what took place during the “show”, there are those quieter memories of seeing old friends. Meeting new friends from as far as Tracy. Seeing the joy on people’s faces. Lifting tables and chairs, setting up lights and sound equipment, hanging banners and laying out books, labeling olive oil containers with deceptive spiritual labeling, sharing laughter and a meal with people I love dearly, some of whom I am just beginning to get to know. I am longing for the days that we have ahead of us and am excited—filled with hope—about what Jesus is doing and how he is calling us to participate.
Please hear me. If these guys are coming to a city anywhere near you, GO!! You will be blessed. I promise.
I know what you might be saying, “But it is too far away for me to go.” Ok, listen. They have driven across the entire continental United States in an RV filled with tired, stinky men to come to you, the least you can do is drive to the nearest city to go to them!!
If you can’t make it, I understand. But I am not sure God will and you’ll have to answer to God come judgment day. And without the Balm of Gilead, I’m afraid there will be no hope for your soul (at least that is what they told me in private)…
[Update] In addition to regular comments, if you’ve attended a Roadshow I invite you to comment your own reflections below. Here is Jonathan Brink’s review. John Ohara’s Review.
- It was clear from the beginning that this should be my role. God blessed Abraham to be a blessing to others, not to simply enjoy his blessing.
- Jesus said, come follow me. Jesus was clearly all about his Daddy’s mission. His life and death modeled a missional life that did what the Father did, said what the Father said. As an follower of Jesus, Daddy’s mission is my mission.
- I have seen missional living heal and restore people. When people believe they are loved and forgiven by their Daddy, it changes their life. My mission is simply to communicate the “you’re loved and forgiven” good news message with every joint, muscle and ligament of my being.
So that’s it. That’s why I am missional. It was clear from the beginning I was designed to be, Jesus was and so should I, and it has life-altering healing potential in other’s lives.
DISCLAIMER: Sorry for such a long post. I hope its massive length did not confuse or conceal my reasons for being missional. I tried to keep it short and simple, but I fear I let my long-windedness get the best of me once more. Please forgive my self-indulgence and lack of self control. 
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This was part of a missional synchroblog started by Jonathan. Here are the other participants:
Ben Wheatley—WWSBD What Would Shepherd Book Do?
Bryan Riley—Jesus is the Way and He Was Missional
Jonathan Brink—Why I Am Missional
Blake Huggins—Missional Synchroblog: Why Am I Missional
As I get older, I learn there is a natural rhythm to life where friendships come and go. I have also learned to embrace this rhythm, not fight it. Different seasons of life form and emerge, bringing with them the surprise and gift of new friendships. It is like taking a road trip to a place you’ve never been, where everything is alive with newness and wonder. That is what a new friendship is like. Some of you reading this I consider such friends and count it a blessing to know you. You have graced my life with your presence, your words and your laughter. I trust the feeling is mutual. Please hear me when I say “Thank You!”
One surprising friendship that has emerged is that of a seasoned writer, Laura Jensen Walker. She works alongside me, currently writing web content for her “day job”. She has been writing professionally for over 12 years and currently has 15 books published. Her newest book, Daring Chloe, is scheduled to be released nationwide the end of May. Laura is full of life and it has been a joy getting to know her.
Can you do me a favor from one friend to another? Pay her a visit, and, if you’d like, read one of her books. She writes bothe fiction and non-fiction. Some of her favorites are Thanks for the Mammogram—a non-fiction recount of personal struggle with breast cancer, Miss Invisible—a fictional book about an overweight women who felt “invisible” to the world due to her size (an interesting side note, a 14-year-old deaf girl recently wrote a fan letter saying that she feels “invisible” due to her hearing impairment), and Reconstructing Natalie—a story of a young single girl who develops breast cancer and how her cancer “reconstructed” her life.
Here are some of her covers (click to enlarge):
Jen and I have been married for 10 years, this June. So when I was asked to synchroblog about keeping it real and the latest chapter of our story, I thought I’d do just that. So here is chapter 10 of our ongoing story:
Our last anniversary was spent camping on the banks of the American River just outside of Coloma, CA. Just before leaving, we were informed by the church where I was Youth Minister that, due to budget restraints, my position was being cut and they were going to have to let us go. That put a slight damper on our camping trip and 9 year anniversary.
We finished out our commitment at the church in July. As we left, their generosity and grace was abundant. Not only did they love us and cry with us, but they offered severance pay that would provide for us until December 1st. We stepped away knowing we were loved and would be missed.
Almost immediately we began applying and interviewing with churches. We had a certain “box” in mind that we felt God wanted us in and so we pursued it. One church showed real interest in us as their small group pastor. We went through the 1st, 2nd, 3rd interview and the door closed. Another church showed real interest in us as their senior pastor. We went through the initial interviews and a weekend extravaganza of meetings and the door closed.
Perplexed, we did some real soul searching. What we noticed was that God was building some great friendships in Folsom (where we live) and sensed that God was asking us to stay put—to trust. But God, there is nothing here. What are we going to do for income? He simply said, Trust. So we stayed and continued developing our friendships and trusted.
But he also convicted me in a very gentle manner. You see, for the past six years God has been doing some real soul shaping in me. He was guiding me and leading me in some new directions (new for me at least) but I kept his leading and re-shaping rather hidden from others. I was afraid what people might think and what their reactions might be. I was like the guy who was given some money by his master and all he did was bury and hide his master’s gift. That was me. God had been doing something in me, but I simply buried it. I cared more about what others would think than about what God thought. In fact, I had been blogging for some time about these changes, but I did so in “private mode” (not available for public viewing). God simply asked me if I was willing to trust him and lean fully into what he was doing in my heart. ‘Cause I realized that no matter what I believed, there were going to be those who agreed and those who didn’t, those who thought I was right and those who thought I was wrong. So the real question became, Am I being faithful to God—where he was leading me and how he was shaping me? Realizing my answer was “no”, I said, “Yes…I will.” As an act of that commitment, I took my blog off “private” and went “public” with my thoughts. That was in October. Some think that was a good thing. Others think it was a bad thing. For me, it was the right and healing thing. Oh, and I almost forgot, Jen got pregnant with #3, girl #2.
Shortly afterwards I got a “regular” 3-month contract job. In the mean time, God began gathering a group of like-minded people who were asking similar questions and feeling similar longings. God began cultivating the dream about a different type of Christian community that he had been individually forming in our hearts for years . We found ourselves colliding with each other on the same road, emerging from different paths. We found friendship and camaraderie. As we dreamed together, God began bringing others to travel with us—all from different backgrounds, with different gifts, longing for the same type of community.
Then my three-month contract job ended.
Trust, he said. We did and he proved faithful. This has been, circumstantially speaking, one of the most difficult chapters in 10 years. But it has also been the most rich, fruitful, freeing, faith-building, soul-shaping, character-building, love-experiencing, friendship-full thrill rides with God we have ever been on. Our marriage is the strongest it has ever been. Our joy is the deepest we’ve known. Our peace passes understanding. We find ourself more patient and loving with those around us. We are more in love with and in awe of God than EVER before. Jesus has never meant more to us. We have deep friendships. God is using us as regular run-of-the-mill human beings. We have been healed from some junk and freed from some baggage. And I got another job.
The dream that he is birthing around us is simply awe inspiring. He has brought about 7 leaders to help dream the dream together. But it feels more like we are just trying to pay attention to what he is doing and wanting to join along. What will it look like? We have an idea, but we are dreaming as we build. When will the dream begin to be fleshed out? It has been for the past 30+ years, has led us to this place today, and will continue to unfold in the future. And the dream-scent we are smelling is phenomenal. May his kingdom come…
So this June, Jen and I celebrate 10 years of marriage. We are celebrating in Napa, CA, for a weekend bed-and-breakfast get away. We thought, “Let’s celebrate what God has done!” And celebrate we will!! I’ll leave the rest to your imagination…
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Others Synchroblogging This Topic:
Mike with “Lost or Found (Depends on your view)“
Erin with “My Turn“
Lyn with “Your Turn“
Sarah with “Glenn’s May Synchroblog“
Jane with “Part 1“, “Part 2“, “Part 3“, & “Part 4“
Alan with “You Are Here“
Barb with “One Year Checkup“
Kathy with “It stinks down here, but I really love the smell“
Heidi with “May Synchroblog“
Great video that will bless you…please DO NOT watch
…a video link highlighting an organization called Sparrow’s Club (a great friend of mine, Matt Sampson, is interviewed). The best line, “The kids will do heroic things when they are given heroic things to do.” I would say the same is true with the church. But anyhow, here is a copy of the email he sent me:
Hi everyone,
I wanted to share with all of you the link to a recent segment that featured Sparrow Clubs here in Southern Oregon. The segment is called “Oregon’s Best” and each week features something about Oregon that stands out as special, unique, or interesting. It aired on the NBC affiliate here tonight, and will air again Thursday morning, as well as Saturday evening. Here is the link to the segment online:
http://www.localnewscomesfirst.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1613&Itemid=1
It will be online for one week. I think they did a great job in capturing the essence of what we are trying to do!
I hope you enjoy it.
Matt S.
I often wonder what Jesus’ words would be if he came to our culture, in our time. Perhaps this:
One time a Bible scholar stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”
“What is written in the Bible?” he replied? “How do you read it?”
He answered, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You’re correct,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you’ll live.”
But wanting to justify himself he asked Jesus, “And just who is my neighbor?”
Jesus answered with a story:
“A man was walking when some muggers got a hold of him. Stripping him naked, they took all he had, beat him just shy of death and left him for dead.
“A Pastor came and when he saw the beaten man, he crossed the street to avoid him.
“So too, a Church Elder, when he came to the beaten man, crossed the street avoiding him.
“But a Muslim, as he traveled, came to where the beaten man was; and when he saw him he felt compassion for him. He approached him and treated his wounds. He brought him to the hospital and stayed with him for the night. Leaving the next day, he gave the hospital his information and some money, saying, ‘Take care of him. I need to go out of town. Send me the bill and when I return I will pay you for his complete treatment.’
“Of these three men, who was a neighbor to the man who was left for dead by thieves?”
The Biblical expert said, “The one who showed mercy to him.”
Jesus said, “Then go and follow his example.”
For us, perhaps the Bible’s header for Jesus’ story would read: The Good Muslim.
INSPIRATIONAL SOURCE: Gospel of Luke, The Parable of the Good Samaritan
May I seek less to be understood by the other than to understand the other.
The words we use are very important. But often, whether intended or not, there is another message being heard that lies beyond our words. This message is often subtle and remains unseen to its conveyor and subculture, in this case Christians and Christianity. But to those listening that reside outside of Christianity’s subculture, the unseen message is clear and often times disrespectful, unsettling, and very inconsistent from its stated intent. These messages are at times verbal, but more often they are written: bumper stickers, t-shirts, license plate frames, church signs, bulletins, and visitor packets.
Here are some:
Too Blessed to be Stressed: Seen on a license plate frame. Unseen messages:
- “So if I am stressed, I must not be blessed.” And who isn’t stressed reading this? God’s blessing, like rain, is given to both the just and unjust.
- “Jesus’ blessing results in stress-free living.” Says who?
- Very self-centered blessing. God didn’t tell Abraham, “I will bless you so you will not be stressed,” but rather, “I will bless you so you will be a blessing.”
Real Men Love Jesus: Seen on bumper stickers and t-shirts. Unseen message:
- “If I don’t love Jesus I am not a real man.” This one is laughable to most men.
Welcome to Church, Prepare to be Assimilated: Often said behind the scenes in church staff meetings or on visitor packets as “Our Assimilation Process”. Assimilation is the new catch-phrase for moving a church visitor through a process into membership, service, and small group involvement where a visitor is now assimilated into the church. All I have to say is Star Trek and most of you know where I am going.
The Borg is one of the more notorious villains in Star Trek. They are a civilization of beings (turned cyborg) who have been assimilated into the Collective, a term used to describe the many beings that have lost their individual identity and operate as one mindless mind. This mindless Collective is controlled by one ultimate cyber-being, the borg-queen, whose main goal is to assimilate as many beings into her Collective as possible. She sends out her cyborg minions who declare to their intended victim, “Prepare to be assimilated”.
Is this really the message we want to send? That when a person visits a church the leadership’s intent is that they become assimilated? That they become mindless beings of the Christian collective (often viewed as conservative Christian and right-wing republican), losing their unique identity in the process, and being controlled by some white man in some office somewhere? That once assimilated, they exist only for the purpose of the church-collective, which is often times to assimilate more and more and more people into the church-collective? That they become some androgynous person void of personality and identity?
Now you and I both know that, in most cases, this is not the intended case. So why use this term? Because when we do, this is often the picture that is painted of the church’s intent. The church has enough trust issues with people to be throwing around a term like assimilation when talking about people becoming a part of the church. We can do better than this. But blindly, church leaders grab onto a popular pithy phrase and use it without thinking. I mean, who really wants to be assimilated into anything? I don’t, do you?
So again, the words we use have dire consequences. It is important to really consider what is being heard beyond the words we use. The world is listening, what are we saying?
A Franciscan Benediction:
May God bless you with discomfort,
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger,
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
My God bless you with tears,
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their
pain to joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness,
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
Amen.
(This was a jem…thanks Tony!)
There is a great bakery down the street from our house called “The Great Harvest Bread Company”. We frequently go there for their free samples and their homemade sandwiches. A few month ago, I met Len, a good friend of mine, there for lunch. It was a beautiful day so we decided to sit outside. As our lunch arrived, a man, who was clearly homeless, approached our table on his bike and asked us directions to either Reno or San Diego. Now we were just outside Sacramento and he was on a bicycle…so though we thought his question was odd, we tried to help him with directions. All the while I was deeply aware that he was looking for more than, “How do I get to San Diego from here on my bike?” The sandwich and chips sitting in front of me was making me feel very uncomfortable… as was the cash in my wallet. The thought of buying him a sandwich and asking him to join us for lunch and conversation kept bobbing to the surface, but I froze. I knew the good I should do and didn’t do it. We simply appeased his strange request for directions to San Diego by bike.Looking back, I can’t help but wonder if he was too ashamed to ask directly for food and so asked a safer question where he didn’t really need the answer; but inside, he was starving for what he really needed. After a few minutes, he turned and left––He left no better because he met us; God’s Spirit in us made no mark. I feel shame as I look back at this incident, yet deep inside I feel as if it has changed me. I would like to believe that if I find myself in a similar encounter, I would have the courage to do good…but I don’t know.
It is hard, at times terrifying, for me to truly befriend, love, and serve people, especially those not following Jesus and who don’t like the church. What if they ask a question I don’t have the answer too? What if they pose a problem too big for me to help with? What if I disappoint them? On and on my internal struggle goes of why I don’t give my time, talents, resources and money to those outside the church and in the community who really need it. And slowly, I miss the point.
Perhaps I am not the only one. Maybe as you look back over our life you have memories of not doing good to those outside the church. Perhaps your mind asks: What will they think? What if they laugh? What of they reject me? What if my family or I get hurt? What if…what if…what if? And like me, your fear paralyzes you and we do nothing. Our walk with Jesus slowly degrades to simply going to church, Bible studies, and serving those who come to church. And we slowly begin to miss the point, that God blessed us to be a blessing! That God did not bless us so we would simply enjoy our position of blessing, but that we would be a blessing to others.
You see, God made this idea of “Blessed to be a Blessing” known from the beginning with Abraham. Gen. 12:2-3 says, “I will bless you…and you will be a blessing…and all the peoples on earth will be blessed by you.” This is not just a promise that Jesus will be the ultimate blessing through the line of Abraham, but also speaks of an actual community of people who fully realize God’s blessing on them and are a blessing to those in and around them. Throughout the OT we see sprinkles of this happening, but let’s jump ahead to when Jesus entered the Jewish religious scene.
Here we see a community who had, for the most part, forgotten the point. They knew their scriptures in-and-out, they knew about the Messiah, how he was going to appear, what he’d be and do, they knew the law and the rules, they knew who was “in” (those who were circumcised and followed the rules) and who was out (those sinners)…they had following God down to a science, or so they thought.Then Jesus comes along to remind them of the point of why they were chosen and blessed: to be a blessing to those around them. He did this through teaching, correcting, and rebuking them, but mainly he did it by living out and modeling the mission of being a blessing. He blessed, healed, ate and drank with, touched, fed, restored, forgave, received anointing from, embraced, talked too, called to be followers, washed the feet of and shared communion with those sinners who were literally being cursed by the religious leaders. Jesus was blessing and accepting those that they were cursing and rejecting. Now I really do not think Jewish leaders were bad people…they just forgot the point. They got too comfortable simply enjoying their position of blessing and forgot why they existed as God’s people…to be a blessing to all people, to all nations. Jesus was trying desperately to remind them but they didn’t like the reminder…they liked life in the saltshaker.
You see, Jesus, in a brief parable in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, likened his people to salt and said if the salt looses it saltiness it is no longer good. I always get hung up with how could salt loose its saltiness, but I think his point was this: if salt doesn’t accomplish its purpose, it is useless and might as well be thrown away. What purpose? For the sake of time and staying on the theme of blessing, let’s focus on the purpose of salt adding flavor and life to food that is bland and “dead”.
In our day, when does salt not accomplish its purpose of blessing food? When it stays in the saltshaker. See, as long as salt remains in the shaker, it is useless…it does nothing. But life in the saltshaker is nice. There’s a lot of salt and all the salt looks the same. It’s safe. There’s no worlds’ being turned upside down. None of the salt falls out or gets eaten. Life is good in the saltshaker. But salt’s life is pointless if it remains in the saltshaker.The salt, or people of God, in Jesus’ day liked life in their saltshakers. Somewhere along the line they forgot that they existed to bless those outside of themselves and thought they existed to remain in, improve and preserve life in the saltshaker. They decorated their saltshakers. They improved them. They cleansed them of anything not salt. They even took it a step further. While in the saltshaker, they condemned, rejected and made fun of all the bland food on the outside. They rejoiced that they were salt and not pepper or some other “unclean” food, like that slab of meat on the counter.
Then along comes Jesus. He tells them they are missing the point of why they are salt. He grabs their saltshaker, turns it upside-down and shakes it wildly over the bland, unclean food all around them–but they refuse to leave the shaker. He then says it is they, the useless salt, not the others, the bland, unclean food, that will be thrown into the garbage and taken to be burned in the trash heap. All the bland food needs is a little salt, not judgment. He said in essence, “If you refuse to be faithful to your God-given purpose of being a blessing to others, then I will dump you out of the saltshaker and pour people who will bless others into it.” And he turned to those all around him and said he is looking for salt who will be willing to “die”, to be poured out and consumed, so that they and others might live life abundantly––with great flavor and blessing. He didn’t care if they were Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free, black or white…he wanted to shake them wildly so that everyone, everywhere, would be blessed through them. Then he taught and showed them how to live such a life. He said in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” And in Acts 20:35, Paul quotes Jesus when he said, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Then the Apostle John said these strong words in 1 John 3:10, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” (You might ask, who is my brother? They did too and Jesus told them the Parable of the Good Samaritan…they didn’t like his answer).
And what of the salt who enjoyed life in the saltshakers? …They killed him–it’s no wonder.
So here we find ourselves 2000 years after Jesus confronted life in the saltshaker. It breaks my heart, and I would venture God’s, to see groups of God’s people who have also forgotten the point.
• People who feel the point is to cleanse, protect and preserve life, as they know it, in the saltshaker.
• Churches who have forgotten why God has chosen to bless and forgive them…so that they can be a blessing to those who are on the outside, as it were, of the saltshaker.
• Individuals who have forgotten what life is like outside the Christian-Sub-Culture-Bubble we have created.
• People who know and sing all about God and the Bible but have missed the point of living as a blessing.
Based on our track record, I often tremble at the thought of what Jesus’ words and actions might be towards us today. And as soon as I say that, I tremble at what his words and actions towards me might be. Maybe, in part, this is what the phrase, “the fear of the Lord”, is hinting at.
BUT, when we feel that the consequences of life in the church-saltshaker become greater then the risks of being poured out for the sake of those outside it; that is when we begin to get the point.It excites me when we, as God’s people, get it.
• When we see that God has blessed us so that we can be a God-blessing to others.
• When people see us and say, “They may not be perfect, but, oh, how they love.”
• When we will be known as Jesus’ disciples not because of the tenure of our church membership, or which church we belong to, or how often we attend, or our bumper stickers, or music, or t-shirts, or doctrine…but they will know we follow Jesus and his way because of our love; because wherever we go, we leave a trail of blessing behind us.
• When broken lives are restored.
• When a widow’s home is fixed and lawn mowed.
• When a single mom and her family is adopted and cared for by the church.
• When alcoholics, and drug addicts, and prostitutes, and homosexuals, and thieves, and murders, and adulterers, and all others we label the “worst of sinners”––are not judged––but are befriended, welcomed as they are into our lives and fellowship so that they may be healed and restored.
• When people come to see and taste that God and his church is good; surrender their broken life to his healing and leadership so that they can link arms with Him and others who are all about blessing people with the blessing they have received.
• When God’s Kingdom comes to earth as it is in heaven though our partnership with God’s work of deliverance, healing, and restoration in the lives of others this is what should get us excited.
This is what the living the way of Jesus is all about. This is, and was, the point from the very beginning: That God would bless a people who would be a blessing to all people and all nations.
Can we imagine us being such a people? Do we long to be such a fellowship? Can we imagine the flavor and goodness we could bring to our community and world? I can…can you? I hope so.
In the spirit of spurring one another on toward love and good deeds, can I ask you to share a blessing to those reading this blog? I invite you to share your stories of how God is using you, the church you fellowship with, or others you have witnessed being a blessing to those around them…….
Warning, long blog ahead…
There is a great bakery down the street from our house called “The Great Harvest Bread Company”. We frequently go there for their free samples and their homemade sandwiches. About a month ago, I met a good friend of mine there for lunch. It was a beautiful day so we decided to sit outside. As our lunch arrived, a man, who was clearly homeless, approached our table on his bike and asked us directions to either Reno or San Diego. Now we were just outside Sacramento and he was on a bicycle…so though we thought his question was odd, we tried to help him with directions. All the while I was deeply aware that he was looking for more than, “How do I get to San Diego from here on my bike?” The sandwich and chips sitting in front of me was making me feel very uncomfortable… as was the cash in my wallet. The thought of buying him a sandwich and asking him to join us for lunch and conversation kept bobbing to the surface, but I froze. I knew the good I should do and didn’t do it. We simply appeased his strange request for directions to San Diego by bike.Looking back, I can’t help but wonder if he was too ashamed to ask directly for food and so asked a safer question where he didn’t really need the answer; but inside, he was starving for what he really needed. After a few minutes, he turned and left––He left no better because he met us; God’s Spirit in us made no mark. I feel shame as I look back at this incident, yet deep inside I feel as if it has changed me. I would like to believe that if I find myself in a similar encounter, I would have the courage to do good…but I don’t know.
It is hard, at times terrifying, for me to truly befriend, love, and serve people, especially those not following Jesus and who don’t like the church. What if they ask a question I don’t have the answer too? What if they pose a problem too big for me to help with? What if I disappoint them? On and on my internal struggle goes of why I don’t give my time, talents, resources and money to those outside the church and in the community who really need it. And slowly, I miss the point.
Perhaps I am not the only one. Maybe as you look back over our life you have memories of not doing good to those outside the church. Perhaps your mind asks: What will they think? What if they laugh? What of they reject me? What if my family or I get hurt? What if…what if…what if? And like me, your fear paralyzes you and we do nothing. Our walk with Jesus slowly degrades to simply going to church, Bible studies, and serving those who come to church. And we slowly begin to miss the point, that God blessed us to be a blessing! That God did not bless us so we would simply enjoy our position of blessing, but that we would be a blessing to others.
You see, God made this idea of “Blessed to be a Blessing” known from the beginning with Abraham. Gen. 12:2-3 says, “I will bless you…and you will be a blessing…and all the peoples on earth will be blessed by you.” This is not just a promise that Jesus will be the ultimate blessing through the line of Abraham, but also speaks of an actual community of people who fully realize God’s blessing on them and are a blessing to those in and around them. Throughout the OT we see sprinkles of this happening, but let’s jump ahead to when Jesus entered the Jewish religious scene.
Here we see a community who had, for the most part, forgotten the point. They knew their scriptures in-and-out, they knew about the Messiah, how he was going to appear, what he’d be and do, they knew the law and the rules, they knew who was “in” (those who were circumcised and followed the rules) and who was out (those sinners)…they had following God down to a science, or so they thought.Then Jesus comes along to remind them of the point of why they were chosen and blessed: to be a blessing to those around them. He did this through teaching, correcting, and rebuking them, but mainly he did it by living out and modeling the mission of being a blessing. He blessed, healed, ate and drank with, touched, fed, restored, forgave, received anointing from, embraced, talked too, called to be followers, washed the feet of and shared communion with those sinners who were literally being cursed by the religious leaders. Jesus was blessing and accepting those that they were cursing and rejecting. Now I really do not think Jewish leaders were bad people…they just forgot the point. They got too comfortable simply enjoying their position of blessing and forgot why they existed as God’s people…to be a blessing to all people, to all nations. Jesus was trying desperately to remind them but they didn’t like the reminder…they liked life in the saltshaker.
You see, Jesus, in a brief parable in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, likened his people to salt and said if the salt looses it saltiness it is no longer good. I always get hung up with how could salt loose its saltiness, but I think his point was this: if salt doesn’t accomplish its purpose, it is useless and might as well be thrown away. What purpose? For the sake of time and staying on the theme of blessing, let’s focus on the purpose of salt adding flavor and life to food that is bland and “dead”.
In our day, when does salt not accomplish its purpose of blessing food? When it stays in the saltshaker. See, as long as salt remains in the shaker, it is useless…it does nothing. But life in the saltshaker is nice. There’s a lot of salt and all the salt looks the same. It’s safe. There’s no worlds’ being turned upside down. None of the salt falls out or gets eaten. Life is good in the saltshaker. But salt’s life is pointless if it remains in the saltshaker.The salt, or people of God, in Jesus’ day liked life in their saltshakers. Somewhere along the line they forgot that they existed to bless those outside of themselves and thought they existed to remain in, improve and preserve life in the saltshaker. They decorated their saltshakers. They improved them. They cleansed them of anything not salt. They even took it a step further. While in the saltshaker, they condemned, rejected and made fun of all the bland food on the outside. They rejoiced that they were salt and not pepper or some other “unclean” food, like that slab of meat on the counter.
Then along comes Jesus. He tells them they are missing the point of why they are salt. He grabs their saltshaker, turns it upside-down and shakes it wildly over the bland, unclean food all around them–but they refuse to leave the shaker. He then says it is they, the useless salt, not the others, the bland, unclean food, that will be thrown into the garbage and taken to be burned in the trash heap. All the bland food needs is a little salt, not judgment. He said in essence, “If you refuse to be faithful to your God-given purpose of being a blessing to others, then I will dump you out of the saltshaker and pour people who will bless others into it.” And he turned to those all around him and said he is looking for salt who will be willing to “die”, to be poured out and consumed, so that they and others might live life abundantly––with great flavor and blessing. He didn’t care if they were Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free, black or white…he wanted to shake them wildly so that everyone, everywhere, would be blessed through them. Then he taught and showed them how to live such a life. He said in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” And in Acts 20:35, Paul quotes Jesus when he said, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Then the Apostle John said these strong words in 1 John 3:10, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” (You might ask, who is my brother? They did too and Jesus told them the Parable of the Good Samaritan…they didn’t like his answer).
And what of the salt who enjoyed life in the saltshakers? …They killed him–it’s no wonder.
So here we find ourselves 2000 years after Jesus confronted life in the saltshaker. It breaks my heart, and I would venture God’s, to see groups of God’s people who have also forgotten the point.
• People who feel the point is to cleanse, protect and preserve life, as they know it, in the saltshaker.
• Churches who have forgotten WHY God has chosen to bless and forgive them…so that they can be a blessing to those who are on the outside, as it were, of the saltshaker.
• Individuals who have forgotten what life is like outside the Christian-Sub-Culture-Bubble we have created.
• People who know and sing all about God and the Bible but have missed the point of LIVING as a blessing.
Based on our track record, I often tremble at the thought of what Jesus’ words and actions might be towards us today. And as soon as I say that, I tremble at what his words and actions towards me might be. Maybe, in part, this is what the phrase, “the fear of the Lord”, is hinting at.
BUT, when we feel that the consequences of life in the church-saltshaker become greater then the risks of being poured out for the sake of those outside it; that is when we begin to get the point.It excites me when we, as God’s people, get it.
• When we see that God has blessed us so that we can be a God-blessing to others.
• When people see us and say, “They may not be perfect, but, oh, how they love.”
• When we will be known as Jesus’ disciples not because of the tenure of our church membership, or which church we belong to, or how often we attend, or our bumper stickers, or music, or t-shirts, or doctrine…but they will know we follow Jesus and his way because of our love; because wherever we go, we leave a trail of blessing behind us.
• When broken lives are restored.
• When a widow’s home is fixed and lawn mowed.
• When a single mom and her family is adopted and cared for by the church.
• When alcoholics, and drug addicts, and prostitutes, and homosexuals, and thieves, and murders, and adulterers, and the “worst of sinners”––are not judged––but are befriended, welcomed as they are into our lives and fellowship so that they may be healed and restored.
• When people come to see and taste that God and his church is good; surrender their broken life to his healing and leadership so that they can link arms with Him and others who are all about blessing people with the blessing they have received.
• When God’s Kingdom comes to earth as it is in heaven though our partnership with God’s work of deliverance, healing, and restoration in the lives of othersTHIS is what should get us excited.
THIS is what the living the way of Jesus is all about. THIS is, and was, the point from the very beginning: That God would bless a people who would be a blessing to all people and all nations.
Can we imagine us being such a people? Do we want to belong to such a fellowship? Can we imagine the flavor and goodness we could bring to our community and world? I can…can you? I hope so.
Please leave your comments so we can dialog and learn together…
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