Intentionality Deficit Disorder

I was shopping a few nights ago at that temple devoted to American capitalism. Because I like to shop late at night, in the hopes I won't have to interact with an actual person (but we'll get to more on that later), the other option in town was closed. When I reached the check-out counter I was forced to interact with the cashier.

He started with the typical, "did you find everything ok?"

 I responded, "yes, how are you doing tonight?"

Now, I could be wrong,  my understanding of the current proper cultural greeting is that you ask how the other person is and they respond with "fine or good or well, etc..." That is a greeting I understand. It seems personal, yet no one is supposed to answer honestly, right? At the very least not to a stranger! So, I knew what to expect. It was a safe way to appear to "conversate" without actually doing anything.

I waited for the typical response and the inevitable comment about the weather.

It didn't happen.

Instead, my new friend said, "not well, its been tough this week."

You know the scenes in war movies, with a submarine, where something bad happens and all those red lights start flashing with loud alarms...yeah, that's a real thing (or at least it was in my head that night). I hate to admit it but I considered leaving the stuff I was going to buy and walking out. Horrified that I was now seemingly obligated to hold a conversation with this man I frantically searched for something to say.  

That's when I heard myself ask, "what's been going on?"

What a stupid question. What a stupid interaction. The conversation that followed, was just that, a conversation. I didn't say anything amazing. I didn't solve any of this guy's issues. I mostly listened. 

I hope it was enough.

Here's a little something you might not know about me. I don't like people. That is not to say that I dislike people. In fact, I aggressively don't dislike people. (deal with it) I wouldn't do the job that I do, if i didn't care deeply about what happened to people. I'm just not particularly interested in meeting new people. After I meet them I typically enjoy continuing to get to know them. It's just the first interaction or two that I hate. Plus, with the work I do, I am forced to interact with people I don't know on a daily basis. So, when I go to the store to pick up groceries my mindset is, "which bag of chips should I buy" not, "how can I help save the world tonight." 

While in school, I had this concept pounded into my skull, Be Intentional. Intentionality in our actions was heralded as the best way to impact the world with the love of Christ. And I absolutely agree. Whether it is the preparation I put in to the events I do, the way I choose my words when I am in conversations, or a simple openness to the interruptions that naturally occur throughout a typical day. However, at the store, late at night, I'm not ready. In those moments I suffer from Intentionality Deficit Disorder (yes I made it up). I know I'm not alone in this. I'm sure there are others who despite our best intentions agree, that suddenly realizing someone needs to experience the love of our God, and I've been picked as the ambassador of that love, is one of the scariest moments. 

I don't have a solution to offer you. I expect that I will "suffer" from Intentionality Deficit Disorder for the rest of my life. My prayer for myself and you as well is, that in those moments when love is needed, we are willing to supply food for the hungry, to invite the cold into shelter and to allow ourselves to ask silly questions like,"what's been going on?"

I hope it will be enough.

Sunday School Wisdom: Be Careful Little Mouth...

So, its been awhile...

I noticed this past month that I was struggling with how to use my words. Not with how to put sentences together, though that does happen sometimes and is hilarious. I have been struggling with using my words to edify and build up the greater body of Christ.

When I was in jr. high and early high school I had a lot of trouble controlling my temper. Not just would I lose control of my words, though that did happen often. Nor was it a matter of resorting to physical force, though that also happened. I would lose control of me even to the deepest part of my thoughts. I would fixate, and be unable to focus on anything but my anger. This is not a problem unique to me, I have known and continue to meet people who have gone through or are experiencing similar things. I tell you this simply so you understand that there are times when this seed of anger deep in me tries to sprout into a full blown plant and take over my heart, take over me. 

I believe some strong things about human existence, its relation to God, how God views humanity and what God expects of humanity's interactions with...well itself. To be simple, my theology requires that I conform to a non-violent lifestyle. Whatever that means, and don't ask me too many questions because I'm still trying to figure this stuff out, probably will be my whole life.

I believe that the New Testament has very clear calls for those who follow Christ to pursue non-violence in every aspect of their lives (look for a future post on this). There is more to my understanding than just saying Romans 13 doesn't justify Christian participation in the military. I'm not just a pacifist! There is more to my understanding than just a Matthew 5 "expose their evil" reasoning. I'm not just pro-peaceful-aggression! I have to control every part of my life, all the way down to my thoughts. I take them captive, and I beat myself into submission! (Rather violent language to describe a life of "non".) 

When I tell you then, that I was angry these past few weeks, you and I understand why that might be a problem. It was almost like I had been transported back in time. It wasn't just me becoming physically violent. That happens, its the hardest to hide, but it is the easiest to control. (I've been practicing control most of my life.) It wasn't just angry thoughts. Those happen, they are the hardest to control, but the easiest to hide. (I've been practicing hiding them most of my life.)

I noticed this past month that my words were getting the better of me. My words were exposing the anger in my thoughts. My thoughts were exposing the anger in my heart. And so it goes. It got bad. There were times I would read something on social media or hear something in conversation and lose it. I would be unable to function or think about anything else for days! I believe in most of those cases I was aware enough to keep myself from responding, or at least tone my responses down, A LOT. (There were plenty of comments typed out on Facebook that only needed to be set free by a little tap on the "enter" key that would probably have ruined someone's day.) This morning I woke up with that ridiculous Sunday School song in my head, "Oh, be careful little mouth what you say..." 

So, its been awhile...   

WWRJD...

If the reader would please indulge me momentarily; I would like to parody a question asked by a famous rapper in the early 2000's.

Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?

A simple question perhaps. And yet my experience leads me to say that a lot of people might actually be confused by who stepped forward in response to it.

I, like many of you I'm sure, interact with Jesus daily. I also interact about Jesus daily. Those might be the same thing, but there is probably a subtle difference. What has struck me consistently over the past few years is how often in my interactions, with Jesus and about Jesus, myself or another person seems to be confused about the real Jesus.

I would venture to suggest that if the things I hear in conversation, read on social media, and see from many of those near me who follow this Jesus are true, than this is the Jesus we should all expect to meet soon.

I hope that most, if not all of you, cringed a little at that. (Spoiler alert we aren't done)

What has become increasingly harder for me to swallow is all the ways in which I see the person-hood of Jesus hijacked everyday. Not by non-religious folks mind you, but by those hard-working, God-fearing, Christians who fill auditoriums every Sunday to worship. Many of my brothers and sisters who fall in this category seem to believe that a follower of Jesus looks like a good American. The reason for this is, at some point in the past (let's be fair many points) the actions of our secular nation seemed to line up with what a good follower of Jesus should look like. 

Or what the most vocal religious leaders told us a good follower of Jesus looked like.

I'm not here to argue the validity of any of those claims. I see little value in that. Sadly, until someone donates a TARDIS to me, I have no way of changing any of that. We should be aware that not every action from the past that looked Christ-like at the time was. What I'm more interested in is raising your awareness to, at the very least, acknowledge that in many ways our King's image has been stolen and used to peddle materialism, nationalism, individualism and a host of other "ism's." 

Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?

There is so much confusion about the real Jesus, that during the days following the Haiti earthquake a stark contrast was seen. While many vocal religious leaders in our country spoke about God's judgment on a sinful nation, an adult establishment in Ohio posted this:

I hope that most, if not all of you, cringed a little at that. (Something about Caring for widows and orphans here.)

Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?

The animated show "American Dad" produced an episode in their fifth season entitled: Rapture's Delight. This episode depicts a mocking enactment of the second coming of Christ. Featuring a war between humanity and demons, the lead character's wife dating Jesus (he can date this time around), and every good follower of Jesus receiving their own personal heaven. 

Obviously this is hyperbolic and latches on to the worst things that have been claimed about Jesus. Can you blame them? I can't. It is not the fault of others if we don't even know what Jesus looks like.

There is an old "Mad TV" video that is kind of funny called: Jesus vs. Terminator. (Warning: some viewers might find this content a bit sacrilegious)

Again, there is a mixture of confusion and mockery in this portrayal of Jesus. But is that not to be a little expected when those who claim to follow Jesus don't know what He looks like. 

"SNL" released their own version of an alternate history for Jesus following director Quentin Tarantino's recent film. They called their piece: DJesus Uncrossed. (Warning: contains graphic violence and graphic language) 

While this obviously doesn't reflect how Jesus actually chose to interact with this world, it does come strikingly close to what some of those who claim to follow him look like. What I see more and more is Christians who are good at using scripture to justify their existing positions. What they fail to do is allow it (what they claim to be the very word of God) to change them to actually look like Jesus.

Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?

   "The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?

   Herein lies the real place of christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming to close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."  

- Soren Kierkegaard "Provocations" p. 201-202

Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?

But maybe there is hope. Perhaps if you and I can agree that we should take the words of Jesus seriously. If we all decided to just follow no matter what the cost to ourselves. If we stopped hiding behind our human reasoning and really let God act on our lives. Maybe some of the confusion can be lifted. Perhaps a few people might see Jesus, finally. So, if you'll indulge me one more time I'd like to revise my question...

Will the real followers of the real Jesus Christ please stand up?

The Art of Illustration aka. Why I'm Crazy...

So, in case you may not have realized yet, God is pretty much crazy.

That's not a flippant comment about the Lord of...well, everything. 

God does, and asks His people to do, things that are crazy.

Let's talk about Hosea... Hosea's whole life is just God saying, you are one giant sermon illustration. (Isn't that what we all want from our lives...) Marry a prostitute, that way people will see that your God cares for you even when you are whoring yourselves out to this world.

Name your kids; Jezereel, because the Jehu family is going to be destroyed. Lo-Ruhamah, because I'm done, I have no more mercy, no more love for this people. Lo-Ammi, because they are no longer my people.

Great... 

Then Paul comes along and sees Jesus, in everything. Why was Hosea told to do these crazy things? Because Jesus was going to show love and mercy to the unloved. Because Jesus was coming to make it possible that those who weren't a people might become the people of God. 

Paul says, that God acted through the person of Jesus to completely redefine what it meant to be the people of God. Now everyone is welcomed into a new kingdom, one where we can all be called the people of God.

Great!

But the medium is the message, and the medium that God chooses to give us this gift is crazy... Welcome to the cross. Welcome to foolishness. Welcome to a world that no longer makes sense. Welcome to childhood.

Remember when you were a kid and everything made sense. But at the same time, nothing made sense.

All the time we were asking the question, why?

We asked because it seemed our parents were completely insane. They were always telling us to do or not do things that seemed strange to us. So we asked, and the best reason they could come up with, the trump card for why, was, "because I said so." Maybe its just me, but that doesn't actually make sense.

I want better reasons than that for why I do things. I want to know what I'm getting into with what I'm doing or not doing. I want knowledge.

The thing about God interacting with humanity is that its insane. Totally crazy. God might actually laugh at our attempts to gain a knowledge of his reasoning. Think about Hosea, if God said, all these things are to set up a situation in which I will come as a human, die on a cross, resurrect and through that means I will redeem all of creation.

Great?

It doesn't make sense, it's crazy. Isn't there a better way? Couldn't you make this simpler God?

If we are going to be children of God, we might need to embrace what feels totally crazy. The things that don't make any sense to us will often be what we do, simply because we know God said so.

God probably isn't telling all of us to marry prostitutes. But if He did, would you? He's probably not telling us to name our children in a way that will indict the country we live in. But if He did, would you? For Jesus the core tenant of being a child of God was to take up a cross and follow and He did charge us to do the same...will we?

God might be saying to all of us, you are going to be one giant sermon illustration.

Because Jesus...

It sometimes still surprises me what people are willing to say on the internet, particularly on social media. I have had numerous conversation in which a party will "say" something completely outlandish and not realize how ridiculous it sounds. I don't know why this seems to happen more through this medium than it does in face to face interactions but I have a theory.

I'm sure you can remember a time (I'm thinking of a lot for myself) when you began saying something in a conversation and as the words were leaving your mouth you realized how dumb that thought actually was. Maybe you are a quick talker and slow thinker so you actually said the entire offending thought. Maybe you are lucky enough that you think faster than you talk and you caught yourself. personally I've had both experiences.

My point is this; I think the reason so many dumb things get "said" on social media is because no one is saying their thought out loud. No one has to hear how dumb their comment actually sounds. Something about typing makes it appear to be internal thought to our brains and we don't always catch internal stupidity. However, when we start to speak out loud we are simultaneously listening to what we are saying and so, sometimes, we catch ourselves before we say really dumb things.

I propose that, from now to whenever the internet disappears, we all read out loud, at least to ourselves, everything we post. This might prevent a small portion of the crazy from making it out there. And even a little dumb is worth stopping.

Why did I just rant about the dangers of unfiltered posting on social media? I'm glad you asked. I ranted because I wanted to "speak" to a social media situation which arose that has prompted this thought; I do what I do because of Jesus.

I do certain things because its what Jesus did or said.

I do certain things because they are what I think Jesus would do.

Before you get too lost let me explain. Sometime in 2012 I was perusing the ol' facebook, when I stumbled across a comment I found rather funny. A friend had posted that they had participated in a nationalistic activity, they stated certain difficulties they had faced to do so and then asked the question, "what's your excuse?" (for not doing said activity.)

There was nothing inherently wrong with my friend's participation in this activity, however, personally I have chosen to take no part in that particular nationalistic activity. I have made this decision because I see how participation, for some, has blurred the line between what is Kingdom of God and what is kingdom of man. So, of course, I had to reply. I'll have you know I chose my reply carefully. I typed several options and finally settled on just one word.

"Jesus"

My reply was not meant to be superior or snobbish. I simply wanted to answer this friend's question. What's my excuse? Ultimately it comes down to Jesus. I want to be a full participant in the Kingdom of God. Sometimes, that means I choose to abstain from the actions of earthly kingdoms. (Just to be clear, I pay my taxes.)

What blew me away was not the initial post, that was fine. Another friend replied to my comment saying, "Josh, please tell me you are not serious...because that is the absolute wooooorrrssseeee excuse I have ever heard".

This is going to sound mean but, no its not. (Follow me seems pretty legit.) Jesus, is the best reason I can think of to do or not do...well, everything.

There is a local restaurant here that has the most amazing bacon cheeseburgers. Seriously, they are delicious. My friend, Mike, and I have gone there often over the last few years of ministry. One because its delicious, and two because the owner/operator and her staff are very good people. We have made it our goal to do anything we can to show Jesus to this group of people.

It started out as just leaving good tips. We noticed that most of the other patrons would leave a couple bucks as a tip. Did I mention that what this restaurant charges is comparable to a fast food joint and its WAY better. Also, the staff is quite friendly and good. I don't think Mike and I have had to order our drinks more than once or twice in the last year and a half. We walk in, find a table and two Dr Peppers (in cups that are larger than anyone else's) magically appear on our table soon after. We decided that Jesus would tip well, probably anywhere he went, but especially here.

The next step in this process was tables. It's not a large establishment and they don't typically have more than three staff out front, sometimes there is only one. And this place is hoppin', there are days when it is hard to find a table at all. One of the things we noticed was that they occasionally fall behind on busing tables, because of the large number of customers as compared to the available staff. If you walk into a restaurant and half the tables still have the remnants of the last person's meal on them it doesn't look good. Mike and I decided we would help. We started by busing our own table every time we ate there. And that was good, but it could be better. We reached a point where we would walk in, bus one or two tables, sit down, eat, bus our table and maybe grab another at the same time. Why? Because we think Jesus would look for any opportunity to serve others and this is what we saw.

One of the great things about this is the conversation opportunities it has opened for us. We get to serve this group and hopefully show them a little Jesus in the process. We have overheard other customers asking, "who are those guys?" To which the owner answered, "just a couple guys from some church." "What are they doing?" "That's just what they do, being nice I guess." Someday, soon I hope, the answer will be,

"Jesus."

This part of my story ends with another friend, a new follower of Jesus, joining us at this restaurant. We did our normal routine, and as Mike was paying, the owner mentioned she had a headache. Mike asked if he could get her anything and she jokingly asked if he had any tylenol or anything on him. He offered to retrieve some and I think she thought he was kidding. Minutes later, having gone across the street to a convenience store we returned with the medicine. Our friend asked why we were doing all the things we were doing. I responded by saying,

"Jesus."

I followed with an explanation of how we want everyone to see Jesus in every action we take and every word we speak.

I am confident in saying that, "because Jesus..." is the best possible way I could began any explanation of my actions. I hope you feel the same.

I Think...

The older I get the more I seem to interact with people who only want "realism". Think "realistically" they say, "don't be silly" they say and my personal favorite, "that's just idealistic". As if idealism isn't worth striving for, if something is "ideal" shouldn't we want that? Isn't the "ideal" what we all are trying to live up to? Why is it that the "ideal" has become so worthless to us? Have we accepted a lie that says, "we can never be perfect so stop trying"? When did God say that we couldn't live perfectly? (here's a hint: he didn't.) And when did dreaming about making things better become a bad thing?

Let me give you some context.

I think that the youth in our churches can understand deep theological truths if we will take the time to teach them, and I don't think we have to play games during youth group to do it.

I think that Christians should take the words of Jesus seriously in the way they live their lives daily.

I think that God wants to change the world, not through the power of a well informed electorate but through the foolishness of people who trust him with everything they are.

These are overly simplified statements that on the surface don't usually bother many people. However, when I start to talk about the dreams I have for the church based on these ideas, I start to scare people. In their words, I become an "idealist", "unrealistic" and one friend has even called me crazy to my face.

I hear these sorts of comments most often when I begin talking about what I think the christian life should look like. Anytime I happen to mention that I think my God is opposed to people dying, that Christians should probably not be ok with killing people and especially when I say that it might be good for us to renounce all forms of violence (such as physical, verbal, emotional...), I consistently hear from others that I'm being "unrealistic". Well, maybe I am, but when did "realism" govern the God of...well, EVERYTHING. The same Christians who call me an "idealist" believe that God created the world from nothing and that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Like dead, dead. Oddly enough, I agree, but that is a pretty unreal situation right? I wonder what he could do with a group of people who completely surrender all personal control and rely on him to move; change the world? (There is something about that cross thing in here somewhere...)

If this is getting too confusing let me clarify; I'm not trying to tell you that I have all this figured out, I don't.

I think I'm trying to say that my God is big, and, I think, he has big dreams. My God is so creative, he chose weakness to display his power to save. (There's that cross thing again...)

I think, my God wants his kingdom to be full of "Idealists".

I think, my God wants us to dream so big we are afraid it might be a challenge for him just so he can succeed and be glorified all the more.

I think, my God wants us, his people, to love him and to love people more than we fear failure.

My God wants us to dream.

Now, if you've lost your ability to dream you need to watch this. I love this idea, its so ridiculous, so "unrealistic". What a crazy dream. But that's just a silly "youtuber" who thinks he is really popular, God doesn't work like that, does he? (I'd like to think that God wants to throw a giant pizza party for all of humanity...but I digress...)

A few months ago I preached a sermon from this chair:

This is my "dreaming chair". Well, its one of them. I have two of these chairs; one in my office and one in my room. Just like the nickname would suggest these are the chairs I sit in when things are too "real", when I need a break from reality and want to share some dream time with God. Mostly I use these chairs as a challenge, they remind me of some things.

They remind me that I shouldn't be satisfied with everything staying the same, that there are always things that can be moved forward and grown, and that's where dreaming comes in.

They also remind me that dreams don't need to be stressful, it doesn't matter how creative I get in my dreams, I guarantee that my God has already thought of it. If my dreams match with his heart for his kingdom then he will go before me. (That doesn't mean that its always easy) If they don't match there is nothing lost.

I don't want to dream up my own vision for the church, I'm dreaming in an attempt to find and understand God's heart for his people.

My chairs remind me that though dreaming might look and sound foolish, if it's God's foolishness I participate in I'll be just fine.

But, maybe I am an "unrealistic", "idealist" fool and dreaming isn't worth your time. I guess you have to decide what your God wants from you, and together we might just grasp some small part of what our God wants for us. Because, our dreams are worthless if they can't be shared by others.



For more videos from Olan Rogers check out: https://www.youtube.com/user/OlanRogers

...and that is why he has called the day, Today...

   A new year, go us right? We make our resolutions, and maybe we stick to them, but in the end is there anything different about today and yesterday that makes them better than Saturday? Why do we get so obsessed about days? Think about it, birthdays, holidays, Saturday, Sunday, we pick days and give them more significance than other days. What makes the day someone was born more important to us than every other day of our lives? Well that person of course. We care to make a day significant because of the importance of the person(s) we are remembering/recognizing. So, a day becomes is exciting to us based on who we are praising or paying homage to, well here is a cliche thought, what if we gave every day to God, to celebrate our savior. Maybe instead of making a single day of the year, month or week significant, every day is a day of remembrance and worship of our king. I challenge you to make a daily resolution, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, I challenge you to love your neighbor as yourself. I'm sure that yesterday mornings sermons sounded somewhat similar to this, and I know I'm not saying anything that you haven't thought of already. But what has changed? Come on, it's 2012, a new year, a clean slate, it's time to move. It's time to stand up and be a little barbaric in your faith. When I say love your neighbor as yourself I don't mean an intellectual assent to what that might mean. I mean for us to live that, if my actions aren't a gospel of love then I have failed. When I want to make a day special for someone I love, I don't spare any expense, I don't care how much it costs me or how much work it takes, I want the best for that person. When was the last time you threw a party for your "neighbor"? I'm sure that you have heard the story about how Tony Campolo once threw a party for a prostitute because it was her birthday. (If you haven't, here you go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWlMV-UmueM) Man, that is what this is all about, people making people the center of our worship. By that I mean that if we want to claim to worship the Christ then we have to love people the way Christ would love them. Jesus didn't come to save you and have it end. He didn't come to give you righteousness, so you could ignore everyone else knowing that you are saved. Jesus came to show you how someone who is righteous lives. And that looks like a guy who throws parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning, not for the recognition but so that at least one girl who has never had a birthday party in her life might feel the love of Jesus in her life. So, are you ready church? Are you ready to make a resolution to live a real life this year. Don't make it today, make it every day. When you wake up tomorrow resolve to listen to the prompting of the Lord and to show love to everyone you see. I'm ready to see this world knocked over by the waves of Christ's love coming from the people of God!
   May God grant you strength and mercy as you walk this year humbled before your Lord, may the King of all things draw you further in to His Kingdom and may you be ever mindful to make each day a celebration of His love, Jesus, my King, my Savior push me forward that I may crash into this world with your love, your joy and your peace. Amen.