Mobilizing the Church

I've been throwing the term "mobilizing missions" around quite a bit lately. I've discussed it here before, but I'm realizing that at the very core, mobilizing missions is not the passion of my heart. There's something even more basic, which is implied, but needs to be specifically addressed: mobilizing the Church.

Mobilizing the Church to do missions is important, and something I very much want to be involved in, but there is a more basic need, and it's probably a larger problem than I would like to admit.

The American Church is in dire need of being taught/transformed into being who the Church is called to be. Therefore, mobilizing the Church to be the Church, and mobilizing Christians to think, have a Christian worldview, and be Kingdom Christians, must proceed mobilizing missions.

(Kierkegaard thought the worst sin for a Christian was apathy. I agree to a point, but I also think it's pretty repulsive for a Christian to not know how to think biblically. At all.)

Peace

So the other day I was sitting down with a really good friend and two other girls I'm just getting to know. They initiated it, and I'm really glad they did. We asked each other questions - kind of the typical, start-to-get-to-really-know-someone... like describe yourself in five words, how do you spend your free time, who are your some of your best friends and why, who has impacted you, etc.

One of the questions was what is your dream job. A question that is looming closer and closer on the horizon, and therefore feeling much less like a random question and much more real.

I thought about it, but there was none of the eternal turmoil I expected. (Wow, Freudian slip? I intended to write "internal turmoil...") For the past two years, another friend and I have dubbed my seemingly conflicting interests as my "trilemma" - my interests in tech/media, history/writing, and missions - rather distinct fields. But now I'm seeing God began to stitch these random pieces together.

I really found only two desires in my heart and mind. First, my dream job would be to get paid to go around (the States and the world) talking about missions - mobilizing missions, getting other people to understand and participate in this desire God has to see the nations know and glorify Him.

At the same time I want to be a wife and mother.

And then I named some other interests that I wouldn't mind making doing as a job (though perhaps not a lifelong career). I'm not sure what my journey will look like yet.

• I wouldn't be opposed to teaching history/geography/worldviews for several years and mobilizing missions in the context of a Christian high school.
  
  
• I have a passion for media and tech. Again, I'm not sure exactly was this will look like, but I feel called to use media to help mobilize missions.
  
  
• Along the same lines, I'm also passionate about using media to see the Church reclaim the arts and the power of good storytelling. Whether my involvement in this comes from my interest in writing or media/tech or simply supporting those who do this much better than I ever could, I want to be involved.
  
  
• I still think it would be cool to be a Biblical archaeologist (goes along with the inner history buff + theologian + childhood lover of all things dinosaur). But...haha yeah.
  

Realizing the solidarity of the passion in my heart was amazing. I don't think I really grasped it at the time, but having God's peace about what He has called me to do is beautiful.

Granted, I don't know how this will play out or what it will really end up looking like - still waiting for those details, but it is not as hard to wait when I know Whom I am waiting upon and the purpose for which I am waiting. As Mark Alexander wrote:

When we make God our North Star, we are guided precisely along the path He has prepared for us, even though we do not know where it leads.

Lead me, Jesus. You have my heart, my guts, everything I am.

Resolving...

So a couple of days ago this excellent quote from G.K. Chesterton was waiting in my inbox, courtesy of Christian Classics Ethereal Library - an awesome site with free online access to many of the great old texts of the Christian faith.

The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." - G.K. Chesterton

Again, like Advent, I'm loving the tradition of the Methodist church we're attending. It's not super traditional, it's pretty casual and contemporary, but there's a heritage that just isn't in nondenominational churches whose roots only reach back 20 years.

Today we talked about the Covenant Renewal service that John Wesley held every first Sunday of the new year. Within the bulletin was a bookmark quoting from Wesley's work "Directions for Renewing our Covenant with God." The short highlight was good:

"I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will. Put me to doing; put me to suffering. Let me be employed for You or laid aside for You, exalted for You, or brought low for You. Let me be full; let me be empty. Let me have all things; let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal."

But I went back and found the original 22 page document here. Having been thinking on New Year's resolutions and similar things, this stood out to me.

"And whereas I have formerly, inordinately and idolatrously let out my Affections upon the World, I do here resign my Heart to Thee that madest it; humbly protesting before thy glorious Majesty, that it is the firm resolution of my heart, and that I do unfeignedly desire grace from thee, that when thou shalt call me hereunto, I may practise this my Resolution:

- to forsake all that is dear unto me in this World, rather than turn from Thee to the ways of Sin;

- and that I will watch against all its Temptations, whether of prosperity or adversity, lest they should withdraw my heart from thee;

- beseeching thee also to help me against the temptations of Satan, to whose wicked suggestions I resolve, by the grace, never to yield.

And because my own Righteousness is but menstruous rags, I renounce all confidence therein, and acknowledge that I am of myself a hopeless, helpless, undone creature, without righteousness or strength." (formatting and emphasis mine)

There's a mouthful. I realize why they shortened the passage they chose for the bookmark, but this will give me something to chew on for a while.

"And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - You are mine and I am Yours. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen."

Reflecting

I'm not a fan of most New Year's celebrations.

Blame the inner introvert. Or the studious over-analyzer. Or the black-and-white prophetic practical side of me. Or a character flaw of your choosing.

It just seems like all the partying seems to miss the whole point - but I guess pop culture and I have differing philosophical/theological perspectives on every major holiday - Easter, Christmas - as well as those little fun guys - Saint Patrick's Day, Hallmark's Day, etc.

(Angry aside note: while walking through Walmart on December 29, yes, only a mere four days after Christmas, I noticed THREE AISLES were dedicated to Hallmark/Valentine's decorations and candy. What would we do without the eternal stream of materialism?)

To me, New Year's is a time to reflect and contemplate and worship. It's a time to consider what God has done and rejoice in what He will do. This past year had been really rough. And I know 2009 will be a time of change and transition, and I'm not sure I'm ready. But my God is faithful.

I've made detailed resolutions in the past, but I want to be more focused this year. It is simple, yet infinitely impossible. Four sentences sum up everything.

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31

May I strive for this every day of my life.

Call and Response

So to make things clear after the last post, I'm not trying to be a complete Scrooge.

Mark Alexander, editor of the really cool and ever insightful Patriot Post, had this to say about Christmas:

For my family, Christmas is much more than a day, a season or a collection of memories and rituals. Christmas is a lens through which we endeavor to view all things -- the universe of our Creator and His purpose for us -- every day.
(emphasis mine)

It's not about the day or the season. It's about the Truth that was revealed - Incarnated - and how this demands a response. It impacts everything I do, everything I am. It shapes my worldview. I must celebrate it. Now, the celebration may not look traditional, but there has to be a response to the Truth. God's Gift cannot be ignored.

Alexander continues:

"However, it can be difficult at times to comprehend God's plan for us -- after all, how are we to discern our minuscule role in the enormity of His creation? In fact, in our home, we can become so distracted by the daily challenges, demands and routines that we sometimes neglect to seek His purpose for us."

I'm guilty, on both accounts. But its not the first as much as the latter that condemns me. God doesn't expect us to comprehend the plan He has not yet fully revealed, but He does require that we seek Him. It's not that complicated really, but I make it so...impossible. But truly, one thing and one thing only will keep me straight: seeking the face of God.

Alexander relates a conversation he had with his son, who was feeling confused and disconnected from God.

"God is always there, even if temporarily obscured from our vision.

We talked about explorers who crossed vast oceans in tiny vessels, setting their course by the North Star for places yet to be revealed.

When we make God our North Star, we are guided precisely along the path He has prepared for us, even though we do not know where it leads. However, as was the case with those early mariners, when we lose sight of our North Star, we must hold steady our direction until we find His guiding light again, correct our course and carry on.

Light overtakes darkness, but only if we open our eyes."
(emphasis mine)

Os Guiness has a similar thought in his book The Call:

"First and foremost we are called to Someone, not to something or to somewhere."

The where? and what? and when? and why? and how? don't really need to be asked if I truly understand Who I am following.

I'm not trying to be overly simplistic, because that doesn't help anything. And its not to say that I won't be asking these same questions tomorrow.

It comes down to a question of how much I trust Him.

May I have eyes to see and ears to hear, that I would stop kicking against the goads.

Alexander, Mark. "Christ's Mass 2008: Our Guiding Light." Patriot Post Vol. 08 No. 52. 22 December 2008.

Christmas: Fighting Death and All His Friends

I'm struggling with Christmas this year, for various reasons.

I've always hated commercialism. Sentimentality is bothersome too, perhaps this year more than before. But most of all, I'm sick of the sugar-coating that goes on inside the church. 

We're leaving out the power of the Gospel for a happy, warm-fuzzy feeling that makes a good singing and drama program. 

Let us not forget that His birth was promised with the arrival of sin - that with the promise of hope, came the promise of battle and pain. 

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel. Genesis 3:15

The Christmas story is not a story of happy, carefree people and cute soft fluffy sheep. Jesus was born in a stable - a place slimed with dirt and sweat and blood and tears and manure. The Nativity is a story of fear and hope, betrayal and love, enmity and adoration, terror and peace, death and life. 

It is a story of war. 

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. ...And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ...Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 12: 4, 7, 17

We get these happy sentimental ideas about Christmas, but Scripture has no such ambiguity. 

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. I John 3:8

Or, as my Bible teacher Jeremy Gregory equated, "to destroy 'death and all his friends,'" - disease, famine, abuse, slavery, neglect, injustice. The wrong created by the Fall is ours to redeem through the victory that Jesus has won.

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I Corinthians 15:56-58

And what last words does Paul impart to the church at Rome?

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Romans 16: 20

So maybe Christmas can leave us feeling empty and unfulfilled because we don't understand the role we're called to play in the story. We're called to fight death and all his friends, because that is why Christ appeared. That is why He became God-in-flesh. As God has redeemed us, we are called to redeem - not that we have any power in of ourselves, but that we know Christ. It is Christ whose heel was stricken by the serpent, and it is Christ who was to crush his head. Yet we have the victory of Christ when we are in Him. 

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:4-7

Reflections on Brit Lit (and other things)

(Posts will be coming rapidly in the next few days/weeks. I'm waiting to post thoughts on Twilight til after I see the movie, and other thoughts on books will be coming soon. Finishing/procrastinating on my Brit Lit final spurred these thoughts.)

So I'm taking a sophomore Brit Lit class. It's definitely a survey – one day on her, a week on him, one passage from this major work, read three poems out of his hundreds, a dozen sonnets in total. I'm grateful for what I am learning, and I guess the point is to serve as an introduction. But really, its leaving me feeling all the more deprived. 

Most of my middle and high school English courses were pretty random – no unified approach to sytematically reading and studying the classics. A high turnover rate in teachers during those years mean that each teacher taught what they willed, and we never really got a thorough study of the classics in school. And because I wasn't really introduced to them or the value of reading old texts, I didn't pursue or read them on my own when I had the time to read. (Almost all my extracurricular reading was historical fiction, or modern Christian fiction. It truly has given me a better understanding and love for history than my peers have, but it's hurt my literary understanding.)

So now that I'm reading the greats, the literary foundation of the English language, I'm beginning to see how much I've missed. (Going even deeper is the context and foundation upon which they wrote – the foundation of Western civilization stemming from Greek and Roman tradition.) Exhibit A: John Donne. I've read maybe eight of his poems/sonnets (some outside of assigned reading) and just in those I've recognized three phrases that later writers have borrow and utilized for their own work (“for whom the bell tolls” and “the world's last night”) or have become common sayings (“No man is an island”). Exhibit B: reading just a few pages from Milton's Paradise Lost, Dante's Inferno, and Marlowe's Faustus. So much of culture's understanding of eternity and the spiritual realm comes from the interpretations/imaginations of these men. 

CS Lewis once described those who don't read the classics and old texts as guys who come in at dinner time and start arguing in a conservation that has been going on since early that morning. The newcomers are presumptuous, often confused, and sometimes just flat out wrong because they do not have the context needed to ably participate. 

It's kind of like those Christians who scream that they're under grace, not law, and therefore have no need of the Old Testament. But without the context of the old covenants, the new covenant much less significance in of itself. Without knowing the context of the Old Testament, the passion of the prophets, the lineage from Adam to David and beyond, the exile and return, the promise of coming redemption, the Law itself, the New Testament doesn't make much sense. And just as the foundation of Brit Lit is based on the foundation of Greek and Roman civilization and literature, so the power of the Old Testament is not in just knowing the law, but understanding it as the Hebrews did, knowing the significance of events and language as God revealed it in the context of Jewish language and culture and history. 

Context is everything.