Filed under: Bio, Missional Church, Missional Living | Tags: convictions, disciple, Following God, God, Incarnational Living, Jesus, Jesus-followers, Spirituality
I spent a lot of time the last few weeks thinking about living as a part of a missional community. How is that began, how is it done, and maybe most importantly, how is it sustained? I was really challenged to get my personal convictions set down so that I can filter my life through them. I know for myself, I have been defined more by institutional (church) convictions then what God has placed in my own heart. In order for me to really live, I need to strive after being the person God calling me to be.
After sharing these with my wife, it was really good to hear that she really liked them and felt she could share them with me (good thing for our future happiness and our marriage 
). I though I would share them here and then develop them over the next few weeks with you. Hopefully this will do 2 things. One, help me flesh this out in my own life, and Two, challenge others (you) to think through your own personal convictions. I’m beginning to believe more and more, that until individuals really have a handle on their own personal calling, we are unable to live missionally either as individuals or as a community.
All of these come from the context of desiring to put the reality of the Kingdom of God on display for others around me to see and experience. Also, I want to be known more and more for what I am for and what I give to others, and less for what I am against or what I desire from others. So having said all that, here you go:
1. The world doesn’t understand grace, I need to live it out for them to see.
2. Church is who we are and what we do together, not where we go or how we gather.
3. I’m blessed to bless others. I need to constantly be looking to give something back especially to the community I live in.
4. Loving my wife and kids takes priority over everything else and shows off Jesus in the process.
5. Following Jesus is meant to be done together. We need others to walk with us on the journey.
6. Injustice and oppression breaks God’s heart and it needs to break mine as well. When I see it (locally or globally) I need to respond.
I really appreciate whatever feedback you can give me on these, wether you agree or disagree with them. And perhaps even more, I’d love to hear what convictions you come up with to guide your life. I’m looking forward to developing each these in the next week or so. Stay tuned…
Filed under: Bio, Missional Church, Missional Living | Tags: Christianity, God, incarnate, Incarnational Living, Jesus, Love, loving others, Messy people, Missional, serve, Spirituality, toxic people
We all have “those” kind of people in our lives. Wether they are friends, family members, or ex’s, there is always that one person who has made bad choice after bad choice to the point that their lives are in ruin. Many times we label them with words like leeches, losers, or just plain toxic, And if “yours” is like “mine”, then you know that when they call you, their life is in a state of crisis, and more often then not they need some kind of help. To be totally honest, I hate answering those phone calls, I dread returning those messages, and I make excuse after excuse to put it off. Yesterday I got one of those calls…
He needed a ride to get some money or he were going to be kick out of his one room studio. It was an emergency. I had things to do, I had to go to work in a few hours, and I really had no desire to again enter into his life and be confronted with all of the chaos and hurt. I really just wanted to say I was too busy to help.
So, at 8:30 in the morning, I drove downtown to pick him up and hear the whole story. He had gone on a drinking binge (again), got in a fight with his girlfriend, and she left, taking what little they had. This caused a downward spiral into a deeper multi-day drinking binge, and now he was broke, lonely, and on the verge of being homeless. I had already resolved not to allow myself to believe his excuses, or to lend any money, but there was something about the way he kept telling me, “I really f-ed this up”, that made me realize that God was already working here.
I wish I could say that in our brief time together in the car he surrendered to the way of Jesus, miraculously was healed of his alcohol addiction, turned his life around, and found a few thousand dollars on the street. Instead, we found a way to get him enough money to pay this months rent (he even offered gas money to me), and we had a few disjointed conversations about God and His love for all people. He gave me the classic line that he was already on his way to hell, but he didn’t understand why bad things happened to the “good” people he knew. He’d given up on God but he didn’t understand why God had given up on others. Amid his ramblings I tried to share that God did care about him, and that He wanted the best for him, to experience real life. It was in the middle of this that he uttered these words that nearly brought me to tears, “I know that, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
Wow, are you serious! Really. I didn’t want to be there. I really didn’t have any hope for him, and would have done anything to avoid being there. And yet, in spite of myself, God allowed his love to be incarnated in me! To this hopeless man, I appeared as the love of God. What an honor.
I dropped him of at his apartment, told him I loved him, and that he would be in my prayers, and that was the end of it. I don’t know what will happen next, I don’t even know how much of his story was true. But I do know that God’s love showed up in my car yesterday, without me even really wanting it to, and it got me thinking. How many other people in my life are searching desperately for the love of God, but no one is showing up to revel it to them? How many of us miss out on chances to be Jesus to others because we’re to busy, or because it is too mess?. And how many people are just waiting to be able to say to us,
“I know that God loves me, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
Filed under: Missional Living | Tags: Christians, Hypocrites, Incarnational Living, Resturant Service, Tip Etiquite, Tipping, Witness
Today in our culture Christians are know for many things both good and bad, but one that you may not realize is
Terrible Restaurant Guests
Recently on American Idol a contest who was a waitress in Texas was asked who her least favorite guests were and she said “The Sunday crowd.”
My own experience in the restaurant business has been unfortunately the same. With the exception of friends that I have a relationship with, the Sunday crowd is easily the most demanding, least forgiving, and worst tipping clientèle that come in. And it not just people like me who feel this way. Most of the servers I work with dread working Sunday lunch for the same reasons. One of my friends even said “The money is terrible and I always leave feeling abused.”
Again, how have the people entrusted with the amazing message of grace, forgiveness, and love been reduced to being know in the serving world as demanding, obnoxious, tightwads? As someone not only making a living in that world, but also trying to incarnate Jesus to my co-workers, this leaves me deeply grieved. It’s time for followers of Jesus to realize that every action in their lives has value and ramifications in the Kingdom of God. The way we treat our servers, our cashiers, and drive-through attendants speaks volumes about God and who He is, even if we don’t realize it. I’m learning that the most seemingly mundane and routine parts of my day have eternal significance not only for others but for myself. How I interact with those around me when I’m frustrated, angry, or anxious not only paints a picture of the God I follow, but can (when I’m open to Him) allow me to see God and His heart more clearly. Now granted, it’s not only Christians who eat out on Sunday afternoons, but the perception is once again what is important. If the perception is that the Sunday guests are all church people, then I, as a representative of Jesus have an obligation to change that perception to something more in line with who God is and who he has called His followers to be.
If you are a follower of Jesus it’s time for us to realize that we are a “witness” regardless of whether we are aware of it or not. My actions and attitudes either portray Jesus as someone to be sought after, followed, and worshiped who offers the best possible life. Or as an idea to be avoided, mocked, and run from that has no bearing on the real lives of its adherents. The choice is ours. Think about it just from this superficial level. As a server, with my experiences on Sunday afternoons, would the good news of Jesus be even the least bit attractive, especially if the heavy drinkers who sit loudly up in the bar are more forgiving of my mistakes and tip overwhelmingly better?
So, for God’s sake (for real) please treat your servers with the respect, dignity, and love that a fellow human loved by God deserves, and while your at it, be generous and leave a good tip (boy have I got a post coming about that one).
And whatever you do, for the sake of all of us Jesus-followers trying to live out the gospel in the restaurant context, please, please, PLEASE don’t leave one of those fake hundred dollar bills or a “Tip with eternal significance” Tract.
