Yard Sale

I have the privilege of meeting with two stellar dudes at 6am on Friday  mornings at a local Starbucks. Every time we meet I always walk away with something that I am excited about. Maybe it's just the coffee working but I thought I would share something from our time together this morning and just let you be the judge. If nothing else, this is a good way for me to get something written down so I don't just forget it like 99% of the other good things the Lord is speaking to me through other people and His Word. I will try to keep this simple and to the point. 

Why do Christians always get to pick the parts of the Bible they want to apply to their lives? And why do the radical passages rarely get chosen as those which "apply" to us? And why do the general commands and the specific commands of Jesus never seem to line up the way it seems like they should in our modern day American lives? And it is probably this last question that I want to elaborate on and leave you with. Partly because it makes no sense and partly because I think it will resonate with many of us.

I will give one example of what I mean. In Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus gives a "general" command which many of us are familiar with. Namely, if you want to "come after" Jesus then you need to lose your life, take up your cross, deny yourself, etc. Now, this command is "general" because it seems to me that there is some freedom of interpretation as to what exactly Jesus means by, for example, "lose your life". I mean, let's be honest, I have lost a lot of things. My Dad used to often tell me, "Boy, you'd lose your butt if it wasn't attached." But, I am not sure I could manage to lose my life, on purpose, in order to follow Jesus. He must mean something else. This is where there seems to me to be room for interpretation. Which is also where most people in the modern, North American, evangelical church, myself included, will interpret this general command to mean that we must forget about ourselves, go to church instead of watching football, share our faith with people, read our Bibles at the expense of sleep, tithe, and whatever else. I don't need to tell you. What do you think it practically means? Probably something similar to everyone else you know and not too similar to the following.

Now, on to the specific command. In Luke 18 Jesus gives a specific command to a specific, well-off person, "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Ouch! Now, my question, why is there such a huge discrepancy between what Jesus tells this rich guy he must do in order to follow him and what we think we need to do to follow him? Obviously Jesus wasn't talking specifically to me in Luke 18, but there is clearly a strong parallel between what Jesus calls all who seek to follow Him to do and what the "rich ruler" is told he needs to do.

Let me be more straightforward. I never want to apply the most radical passages to my life, even though there is a strong argument in favor and as I sit in church and look around I am saddened to think that few, if any, are even considering the idea that Jesus might call them to sell everything (lay down their lives) and give the proceeds to the poor. I mean really. Who does that? And why in the world do I get to decide what it means to "lay down my life" when every Biblical example I can think of is called to something so much more ridiculous than anything I would ever come up with through my own interpretation.

I know I am basically just rambling about something that Christians sit around and talk about all the time. It's just the basic, "Why aren't we more radical?" coffee shop discussion. Which I do enjoy, don't get me wrong. But this past week I have just become a bit more aware than normal of my own sinful reluctance to listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit as He whispers, "Josh, sell it all and come, follow me." 

I have no idea what to do about any of this. Maybe go crazy, maybe just forget about it until it comes up again next time, maybe get bitter at all the "Christians" who are absolutely no different than anyone else in this fallen world, or maybe have a yard sale.  I'll keep you updated.

Faith

Sometime last week I was sitting at Starbucks (my office), working on a talk, doing my thing and I get a phone call from my wife.

 "Could you pick up some milk and bread from the grocery store on your way home today?" 

"Yeah sure honey, no problem." 

Normally I drive my car but this particular day I had decided to go granola and ride my 1980's teal Fuji. It's a sick ride. Anyway, I hop on the bike to head to the grocery store and I am immediately faced with a troubling question. "Which route do I take to get to  Raley's?"  If I were in my car I know exactly which way I would go. Straight up the Esplanade, left on East. But, today I am riding my bike and I have never ridden my bike down this particular route. "Is there a bike lane? Do I ride in the road or on the sidewalk? Should I take the bike path? Etc." 

So, instead of taking this route, which is sure to be faster and more direct, assuming there are no unforeseen roadblocks or booby traps, I go the long way. Down Eighth Ave, right on Holly, right on Mission Ranch Blvd, through the back entrance. 

While I was on my way down this very indirect route I began to wonder. Why am I doing this? It's longer, further, and just plain ridiculous in light of the fact that there was almost definitely a better way, and that's when it struck me. The almost sure to be a better route was a path of faith. Confidence in the unseen. Sure, I had never ridden my bike that way before but I had more than enough evidence to conclude that it would be possible to do so.  And I did not have enough faith to take it. So, instead, I took the long, indirect, off-track, sure way. Sticking to the same roads I had ridden my bike on a hundred times before. 

Sometimes I think this is the way I approach my walk with Jesus. There is the path of faith and the known path. The path of faith is surely better but requires confidence in the unseen, of which I am in short supply. The known path may eventually get me somewhere acceptable but not necessarily as quickly or effectively as the alternative. Not to mention, "acceptable" isn't really a goal worth living for. 

How about you? What are your thoughts on faith? In what ways do you stay on the known path and where is Jesus calling you into the unknown? How have you seen the unknown path lead you to something better than you could have imagined as you journeyed down it in faith?

Leviticus

Spending some time in Leviticus this evening and struck by some of the ground rules that God lays out for His people as He sets up the means by which people's sins will be forgiven. But first, I want to give a quick precursor. I am using a Bible reading plan which I really love and its found here http://www.hopeingod.org/BibleReadingPlan.aspx  It just so happens that I am in Leviticus. I am not one who would normally flip straight to the book of Leviticus for a spiritual pick-me-up and if you are then what I am about to say probably won't be interesting to you, but here it is. 

Leviticus 3:2 "And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting..." 

This is an idea repeated over and over throughout the first 10 chapters which has really grabbed my attention. Looking beyond the fact that the sacrificial system established in the OT is the last thing I ever would have thought of if I were God, but the best thing I can imagine for God to convey to His people the seriousness of sin.  Looking beyond this, I want to focus quickly on one thought. God commands His people to lay their hands on the head of the sacrifice. To put the blood on their hands. Not to simply by a goat, hand it over to the slaughterhouse and go home. But to be there for the brutal murder which was necessary to atone for the sin committed, no matter how serious that sin seemed at the time of its conception.  

Closing thought, what if I placed my hand on the head of the necessary, perfect, sufficient, voluntary sacrifice as He was being slaughtered for my sin, every time I needed forgiveness for my sin? He would be no less willing to forgive but I may find myself more reluctant to transgress His perfect law. 

What is something for you that has raised your awareness of the severity of sin? One passage, one sermon, one book, one experience? 

Thank you for your time and your contributions which I know will help me walk closer, with increased holiness, before the Lord. Our perfect and sufficient sacrifice!

Personal Development

As you can see from my first post, I am entering a season in which I have an increased desire to not remain complacent in my development but to press forward. With that, I have seen that many fellow friends and Campus Crusade staff members have found blogging to be a crucial aspect of their development.  As I sat down recently to make a plan for my development I came up with the following categories. 

• my strengths (natural, spiritual, areas of passion)
  
• areas in which I obviously need growth for future success (scheduling, angermanagement, dynamic determinism, etc.)
  
• future plans or aspirations
• people to pursue as life coaches
• specific developmental tasks (Bible reading/studying plans, blogging, theological development, books to read, preachers to listen to, develop life mission statement, work on time management, etc.)

I think it would be sweet for anybody reading this to leave a comment with the books, activities, excercises, websites, etc. that have been most influential in your personal, spiritual, or leadership development. I recognize this is broad but we will see if it leads anywhere.  

Thanks for your input!

Ground Zero

Thanks for coming. I have been considering starting a blog for awhile, but it seems the time has finally come. Based on the title, you can hopefully see that I have no aspirations for greatness. I am simply desiring to use this blog as a tool for my own spiritual and leadership development and maybe, in due time, that of someone else also. Its success will be fully dependent on Jesus speaking to me through His Spirit, His Word, and His creation (you!). I have a tendency to start things and not follow through with them to completion. In this case, I suppose completion would be achieved when I am convinced this blog has served its purpose. Maybe this will be my last entry. We'll see ;) I hope to make my entries about things I am learning in the Word, in life, in my readings, from my marriage, my friends and so on. I hope others enjoy it, but even if I am talking to myself I feel I am starting a sweet journey. Here we go...