Casual

Oh how I long for the day that we can dress casual to come to church! I think that should be Psalm of David. If I were to write the Psalms for today, that would be the beginning of one of them...
The traditonals cry out with a theological tone "Wear your best for God! That's how He would have it be!" The post-moderns and the unbelievers say in return, "if you would just loosen up up a little bit, that is the way Jesus would have had it!" Frankly, I don't think He cares either way.
We put so much stock in how we do the externals. We are divided on this fact. Coat and tie vs. jeans and t-shirts have become a Heaven vs. Hell issue for many. Preachers can be shut out by some congregation members for not wearing suits and ties, and shunned by others for wearing them. GROW UP, BOTH OF YOU!
Where did we become so adamant in taking dogmatic stances on such trivial issues. Modesty, yes, let's do modest. Pride, yes, take pride in our appearances. But it seems we do more worshipping of our image then that of the image of our God.
We all, if not careful, stand guilty of breaking His commandment of making graven images. Newer churches frown on the suit and tie churches and vice versa. We promote our way of worship much more passionately then then the Person we worship. We spend more time selling and preparing our worship services than we do proclaiming His message and preparing ourselves to minister in His spirit. And the world, the true unbelievers (not current unhappy, spoiled church goers), often get killed in the cross-fire.
If you are going to be unshaken on the suit and tie method, just make sure your heart has a suit and tie as well. If not, you are one grand picture of a hypocrite. If you are going to take the casual approach to a worship service, just make sure you are not taking a casual approach in your worship period. Make sure loose in your appearance is not equal to loose in your commitment.


P.S. If all else fails, just put on dockers and a polo. That way you can have your cake, eat it too, and no one in your current tithing base gets too offended.

Dazed and Confused

What does it take to gain clarity in this life? Is clarity over-rated? Do I really want people to be honest with me about the way that they feel toward me and/or what they expect from me? Maybe not.
Being the kind of person I am, I am more apt to stay confused with unclear instruction then to ask for guidance. Then I become the constant source of my own confusion, I suppose. Don't know if it's pride or the straight unwillingness to speak my mind, but I stay conufsed mostly, shooting in the dark toward unseen targets. The good news is, I tend to keep hitting the nothing I aim at. I come up empty handed most days because I was unsure what I wanted out of them to begin with.
But I am not certain that everything should be mapped out for us. Wouldn't that take away the adventure that life is? Should not life flow a little bit out of control at times, taking us down unexpected turns? Isn't that where we find character buidling opportunities vs. a well planned existence that has gone exactly how we set the course? On the back end, there would be no interesting stories to tell around campfires and grandparent's living rooms. Aren't the most inspirational stories mankind repeat for generations the ones where someting went chaotic? And then we get to hear the heart-pounding climax of how man overcame. And that is what makes the story great. It's what makes our stories great. It is that very out of control feeling that keeps the desire planted inside of us to yield control to someone else. Someone that helps us gain control, not of the chaos, but within the chaos...stabilizing our being and penning our novel that is life. We constantly miss, that is why that someone hit it for us. And maybe instead of me shooting at targets all day long, I should rejoice in the fact that the bullseye is already marked, and celebrate with the one who marked it.

Joy

I laugh, because Christ got it right for me and his light shines in the midst of my darkness a little brighter each day.
I laugh, because God chose this imperfect vessel to teach others about perfection found only in Him.
I laugh because I am three things: husband, father, and minister, and there are people in all three realms that value me despite my shortcomings.
I laugh from joy, because there are some things about me that are worth duplicating.
I laugh because in all of my problems, there is always a desire to be better, and every little stride is another step toward change.
I laugh because I am given the opportunity to learn and apply new things, be it ever so slowly.
I laugh because I don't have to save myself.

Lament

I cry because I can't get it right. All of my efforts to live any sort of example seem to be useless.
I cry because I often teach integrity from a rotten soul and discipline from an undisciplined wasteland.
I cry because I am three things: husband, father, and minister...and yet such a poor excuse of all three.
I cry from fear, that any product resulting from my life may indeed be a duplicate of what I am.
I cry because in all problems, I lack the confidence to start making them better, and if I do start I cannot see the end.
I cry out of the status quo being I have become in the midst of knowing there is so much more.
I cry because I cannot save myself.

Fall

I really admire Billy Graham...of course for what he has done, but more for what he has not. For a man who has spoken to more poeple than any other historical figure, about what is now one of the most attacked ways of life, he managed his whole life to stay controversy free.
It was a few years ago that I watched a special on his life. I learned that at the height of evangelical scandal (PTL, Robert Tilton, Swaggart, etc.) he gathered his team up for serious accountability. He instructed them to go to their hotel rooms and list every single pitfall of the minister. Then, they got together and made a pact to never let anyone fall into those traps. Whatever the details of the whats, when, and hows, they seemed to accomplish just that.
But what are my pitfalls? What are my traps? I doubt they are most uncommon to what they were then. Nevertheless, the importance of "keeping clean" is just as crucial. The word instructs me on "clean conscience" and "walking accordingly to the call". I want to take my list before God today, and everyday for that matter. It's important, ever so important that I do. Now, "to Him who is able to keep me from falling", I dedicate today.

Doubt

Yeah, I watched that movie this weekend. Of course I kept hoping for some dramatic ending which never happened...so is the way with oscar nominated movies. I guess I am just not "artsy" enough to appreciate movies that are supposed to make you think. I generally go to movies because I don't want to think. That is why it is a form of "a"musement (the absence of musing).
What is the country's obsession right now with "doubt". In the movie, Hoffman's character exclaimed, that "doubt can be as strong of a bond as certainty". I want to believe that because it is glamorous. It sounds as if we can become as one if we just stand together on what we do not know. Now, I do understand that those with the same doubts can form bonds through searching and even have intelligent conversation, but can doubt really bond humans together the same way certainty can? Hardly. Because what lies at the end of doubt? Nothing. There is no leg to stand on. Questions will never bond people as strong as answers. There has never been a religion, or cult for that matter, founded on doubt. No one has ever died for there doubts. And no people group has ever influenced anything or anyone for the better with doubt at their core.
Doubt, I say. Doubt strongly! But let that doubt play a proper role in your life and in the life of your group. That role is to lead you to certanity, strong certainty that carries with it the confidence to experience life, and bring it to others.

When it comes to trying to live life as a true disciple of Christ, I find myself in a tug-of-war between making it too hard and over-simplication. Where is the balance between "the narrow road that few find" and "the easy yoke and light burden"? Where does one find solace in the battle of being unique while being begged to fit into one common mold? In the seemingly pitch-black land of confusing and contradictory Christian teachings, just where does one locate the "peace that passeth all understanding"?
I often find myself at a crossroads of what I believe the summation is of all my experiences and learning. Why here and now? What here and now? And, just where to go in the future? Godliness with contentment is the presentation of the great apostle, but why do those things seem to clash. As I draw ever closer to God, I find myself feeling farther away. The more I know, the more I discover that I just don't know, and wonder if I ever will.
But yet I find that can still learn what I do with fervency and communicate it with passion. It is almost as if the confusion drives me, and that I have learned to pursue God's way all the more in the face of feeling unable to find it.
This is my life at the moment. This is my pursuit. To know Him as He desires. To continue to discover Him for myself, in hopes that I can communicate it to others.