Loving Others

Loving others...well, this seems simple enough right? I have heard many say that Christianity is nothing more than "loving God and loving people." I have thought a great deal about this statement, and although have had my qualms with it in the past...I am starting to believe it true.

The problem lays with the "nothing more" part of the statement. Nothing more? Really? Ministry, Christianity, the church, it's people, if it were to work through this statement, would indeed find solutions to many of it's problems. In 1 John 4:16 it says "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." So why is this so hard?

1 John 4:17-21 continues with saying...

"In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."

At a Christian University you would think this would be understood...you would think it to be the banner held high in the ministry department...instead when "loving God and loving others" is mentioned one can look around only to see eyes rolling, hear exasperated sighs and slight chuckling. Why? Why has this become an icon of scorn? Is it because it is overdone or misunderstood?

A student can gain all the wisdom of the world...all the facts...all the philosophies...all the theories of theology and ministry, but without this passion...without love it is, as our Ecclesiastical friend would say, "vanity."

A professor of mine said that we, as students, have become institutionalized. We never want to leave this place. Of course we all say how badly we want out, but really deep down many of us fear what is to come. We would prefer discussing deep ideas and "dreams" brooding over coffee, then getting out there and "doing" ministry and loving people.

The passion has become distinguished...how do we fight it?

1. Presence with God - I believe that prayer is breathing with God. It is timing our breaths with His, our thoughts with His, meeting Him where He is ...not the other way around. It is alining our hearts to His and if God is love, than how can we not have that love if we are "breathing" with Him?

2. Presence with people - When you are being with people, really being with people, in their hurts, in their pain, crying with them, laughing with them ...being with them...sharing life with them you cannot help, but to love them. I'm not talking about coffee meetings, class time, or movies on a Friday night... I'm talking about the real issues in life. I'm talking about being a shoulder to cry on, affirming truths in their life, lending a hand...sharing your life with them.

3. Presence with the church - The church is by no means perfect, but it is real. It is up to you what the church looks like. It can be a place where everyone wears a mask, it can be a place where people come and hide ...or... it can be a place of true community, true family, a picture of love.

4. Presence with the here and now - "My" generation seems to have the tendency of either looking of what has been or what could be. We look at how it was in high school or maybe even college as the "golden years," losing sight of the present time. Another common error, that I easily fall into, is that of looking only at what is to come. By living in the past, or even the future, we fail to see the here and now, and in that we fail to love those in the here and now...

From Young Adults, for Young Adults: Reasons for Lack of Church Attendance

So, quite a few pastors/professors have been asking me lately why it is that young adults do not go to church. It really is a perplexing issue, isn't it? Sometimes it seems like my generation is the rebellious black sheep of the church; the more the church tries to bring them back in, the further they want to get from it.

 As a representative of this generation, I would like to propose a few reasons why this is happening, and then also a few things that can be done to mend the divide. In this post, we'll take a good look at the reasons, then we'll look at some potential solutions next time. 

REASONS:

1. "Christianity is not a religion -- it's a relationship" -- We have all heard this in one form or another, and there is certainly some truth in it. But personally, I think that this statement is doing more harm than good among young adults. What this is basically saying is that Christianity is all about your own personal, individual relationship with Jesus and the church is basically just a "spiritual booster shot" that you get every Sunday. So if it doesn't do anything for you, then you shouldn't have to go. The real issue here is that because of statements like this, my generation does not understand the significance of the church. This is probably the most common reason that many of my friends do not attend church. 

2. The awkward gap -- Most young adults between 18-23 are still treated like they are older teenagers, but not adults. We are too old to be teens, but too young to be accepted by the elders in the congregation. As a result, we are stuck in an "awkward gap" -- we feel unwanted and unappreciated. It is hard for anyone to be part of a church if there isn't a place for them. 

3. Youth ministry||Church -- In most churches there seems to be a great chasm between the youth ministry and the rest of the church. The youth ministry will draw a large number of teens, many of them unsaved and/or unchurched, but they never get plugged in to the rest of the church. As a result, when they graduate high school, they continue to not attend church, but now they do not have Wednesday nights anymore. In essence, they graduate from church. 

4. Nothing offered -- A good number of churches don't have any programs geared for younger adults. I don't think that starting up a young adult worship service is a good idea (see #3 for why), but I think that if something good was offered for our age group, we would be more likely to come. In the next post we'll talk a little more about what this looks like. 

5. Inauthenticity -- You know that face? The one that Christians put on when they are at church because they are supposed to "love" each other, but deep down they hate the other person's guts? Yeah, we hate that. Authenticity is key to us. If it something reeks of fakeness, then we are going to be gone faster than you can say "Good to see ya at church!" This is why "friendship time" in most churches is counterproductive... I mean, do you really expect us to genuinely fellowship with other Christians if you only give us enough time to shake three hands, then sit down? For heaven's sake! Give us a chance to mingle! Okay, moving on. 

6. We're not buying the gospel you're selling -- Remember that Christ-bridge analogy? On one side there's humanity, then there's a huge chasm, then on the other side there's God. Then miraculously, Christ's cross comes and "bridges the gap" between humanity and God. Now all we have to do is walk across! But wait! There's more! If you cross over today, we'll throw in sanctification at no extra charge! And we'll also throw in not one, but TWO study Bibles and some highlighters! All this can be yours if the Price Is Right!! Ahem.... Sorry about that. For years, the church has been "selling" Christianity like it is a product. STOP IT. Salvation is not a transaction, it is a transformational journey toward Christ-likeness. You can keep your Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free Cards. Give us something that is relevant for the here and now, not just the hereafter. 

Okay, so there are six things to get us started toward thinking about how to "bridge the gap" (If you read #6, you will realize that I just made a joke!) between young adults and the rest of the church. Next time, we'll go over a few things we can actually do to accomplish this. 

Grandpa Brett

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-grandpafavre

Here's to the NFL's only active playing grandfather!

Meditations Leading Up to Good Friday

I found this really powerful reflection by St. Melito, Bishop of Sardis from 170 AD at a Roman Catholic website called www.crossroadsinitiative.com. You can think what you want about the Catholics, but they've got it right when it comes to valuing powerful, deep liturgy and prayers. 

St. Melito (a Holy Week sermon from the Bishop of Sardis 

given around 170 A.D.) 

  

This is the one who patiently endured many things in many 

people: 

This is the one who was murdered in Abel, and bound as a 

sacrifice in Isaac, 

and exiled in Jacob, and sold in Joseph, 

and exposed in Moses, and sacrificed in the lamb, 

and hunted down in David, and dishonored in the prophets. 

  

This is the one who became human in a virgin, 

who was hanged on the tree, who was buried in the earth, 

who was resurrected from among the dead, 

and who raised mankind up out of the grave below to the heights 

of heaven. 

  

The one who hung the earth in space, is himself hanged; 

the one who fixed the heavens in place, is himself impaled; 

the one who firmly fixed all things, is himself firmly fixed to the tree. 

The Lord is insulted, God has been murdered, 

the King of Israel has been destroyed by the right hand of Israel. 

  

This is the lamb that was slain.  This is the lamb that was silent. 

This is the one who was taken from the flock, and was dragged to sacrifice, 

and was killed in the evening, and was buried at night; 

the one who was not broken while on the tree, 

who did not see dissolution while in the earth. 

who rose up from the dead, and who raised up mankind from the grave below. 

Reverse the Curse?

One of the more popular ideas running its course through our Christian thought today is the concept of "reversing the curse" of Genesis 3. We talk about it like the primary focus of God's plan for the redemption of humanity is to get things back to the way they were before the Fall. While this is true to a certain extent, we can't take this too far.

First of all, when God created man in the garden, we were created perfect, yet corruptible. As Dr. Chris Bounds says, God's plan is not only to ultimately restore humanity to perfection, but to make them perfect and incorruptible. So the curse is reversed... but it goes beyond Eden.

Even with this in mind, I don't think that God's chief plan for humanity is to make things exactly the way they were in the garden of Eden. But if it is God's plan to eventually create a carbon-copy of Eden, here are a few things which will have to be reversed that we don't usually think about:

a) We're all going to walk around naked (Gen. 2:25)

b) Snakes are going to have legs (Gen. 3:14)

c) Man's job is going to be primarily about naming animals (Gen. 2:19)

... and if it is our job to help God bring this plan to pass, then I guess we might want to start considering joining a nudist colony (just kidding).

Switchfoot!

Switchfoot is playing here tonight! Over 500 teenagers are coming in for Fusion youth conference today and hearing the gospel message. Over 200 kids from the Marion community are getting to come for free. Pray that God's will be done through this youth conference.

Oh yeah. And I say we vote Jon Foreman as the next World Changer Inductee, what do you think??

Little Ones

We pass it off like they know nothing,

but really let me tell you something,

these little ones with eyes open wide,

keep big secrets by those who confide.

They understand life in a way we can't

they see things at a different slant.

We wonder why the world is broken,

yet we neglect those who go unspoken.

The future of tomorrow lies

behind those big, bright, innocent eyes,

so you tell me who will hold them,

you tell me who will love them?

Those little ones with broken hearts,

were never meant to be torn apart.

So hold them Jesus, hold them tight,

because I can't reach them day and night...

Show them Jesus, give them sight,

help us, help them, to see the light…