Thursday, April 26, 2012

Everybody Has A But


There were three things I remember not being allowed to do as a kid (well three things that really stick out in my mind now as I reflect back on my childhood.
            1.  Can’t watch Married with Children
            2.  Can’t watch the Simpsons
            3.  Can’t say the “B” word – which happened to be butt in my family.

My response…I was never in the house in the evenings to really watch TV anyway.  I was usually outside playing cops and robbers until dark.  Thankfully, TV wasn’t really a part of my growing up, unless the Rangers were on TV because that meant I could stay up late with dad because we had to finish watching the end of the game.  However, I did have a big sister and she really got on my nerves sometimes.  And when it came to the “B” word, I just had a hard time complying with that rule.  Butt, butthole, and butthead were some of my favorite descriptors for her (love her to death now).  Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I was fairly difficult to handle as a little brother, and once I have kids of my own, you can be pretty sure the above 1-3 will be on their list too. 

It really drove my mom nuts when I would use the “B” word and it got under my sister’s skin so good.  I really hate to admit I got some kind of sick satisfaction by being able to aggravate them so easily.  Mom would always say, “Ross Marion, we do not use that word!”  In my mind, what’s the big deal?  Everybody has a butt! 

I don’t have kids of my own yet, but one thing is for sure – they won’t be allowed to use the dreaded “B” word.  I even feel like I’m headed for a grounding as I write this because mom would not approve of my word usage. Sorry mom, guess I don’t feel too guilty because I’m writing it anyway. 

Sure, everybody has a butt.  It also seems that everybody also has a but.  As dangerous as butt is to sibling rivalry, so too is but to our faith as Christians.  As a good father, I think God would ban the “b” word because he knows just how detrimental it is to our faith. 

One of our older brothers of the faith learned this lesson early in the biblical narrative.  His name just happened to be Moses, and he spoke the awfully dreaded “b” word.  God heard it and he immediately banned it.  “No but’s allowed.”

The story happens in Exodus 4:10-13.  But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”  But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

What's Moses' problem?  Maybe it's stuttering.  Maybe he's lost his fluency with the Egyptian language.  Maybe he's become accustomed to blue-collar grammar amongst the shepherds.  Whatever his problem, legitimate or illegitimate, it certainly is not enough to deflect God from his path of action.

Moses’ repeated attempts show he is trying to free himself from God’s call.  Moses feels like he playing the central role in the deliverance of Israel.  What Moses doesn’t understand is that God cares more about the Israelites than he does, and God is fully capable of directing the means to bring about their freedom. God calls Moses to carry out his work for his people.  Moses’ response…"Uhh, God don’t you know I kind of have this stuttering issue.  God…I’m not the most eloquent of speakers." 

Here appears the holy God of the universe to Moses and calls him to a task.  He’s showed his presence through a burning bush, given Moses a couple of other signs that he is with him, and tells him he will be his mouth.  Holy God will speak for him.  Moses’ response…"uhhh Lord, can you send someone else?"

I often wonder if our but’s are asking of God the same question.  He is calling us to work and our response is to ask him to send someone else.  Are we crazy?  What are missing here?  It’s all about an identity crisis. We have to stop looking at ourselves instead of looking to God.  That was the problem for Moses, for Gideon, for Jeremiah, for Jonah, for Peter, etc.  Peter failed when he took his off of Christ.  Moses had every but in the book and so too did Gideon.  Jonah was full of excuses and reasons not to do what God wanted.  What did God do?  He used all of them despite the but’s.  Our problem is that we are often but-heads.  We’ve got to get the but’s out of the picture so the cans of God come through. 

Our circumstances cannot be the determining factors in our response to God’s calling. God is not just with us, but in us, and we are in Christ.  We are all called in order to be sent out on a mission. 
Moses’ objections are inconsequential…not BUT’S allowed. 

We have to start thinking exciting thoughts.  God gave us an imagination because he wants us to be dreamers.  However, the dream is useless if we never seek to live it out.  Just look at the missional imagination of the men who lowered the paralytic through the roof.  Without creativity and vision, that man may never have walked.  If we try to sum up life by what we can do, it’s flat out going to be boring.  We’ve got to start believing in what God can do through us.  Missional imagination looks past ourselves and into the living God within us.  A rejection of God’s calling is a rejection of Christ within in.  It’s a living oxymoron.

Everybody has a but.  We are all a little spiritually clumsy and don’t know everything there is to know about faith.  One thing we do know…God doesn’t approve of the “B” word.  If selfish, it’s faithless, and it removes his power to use us in the ways he has dreamed up. 

Moses was just like us.  He was normal, with flaws, and a little uncertain.  God used him anyway!  It is an extraordinary call that comes to ordinary men in ordinary settings.  It is in our inability that God does some of his best work.  Periods of discomfort, doubt and unrest are nothing more than the honest strugglings of God’s people, and it is precisely through such a process that the Lord strengthens us for the task ahead and causes us to grow to meet greater challenges. 

You may be an imperfect follower of Christ, but the perfect Christ lives in you.  In him, your identity is formed.  In his image you were made.  To his mission you are called.  No but’s allowed.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Anybody out there remember Mr. Rogers?  As a little boy, I watched Mr. Rogers pretty faithfully.  There was something about the show that just made life feel good.  I could learn about different people in the world and somehow Mr. Rogers was teaching me to appreciate them despite how different we were.  He just wanted us all to be neighborly.  Would you be mine?  Could you be mine?  Won't you be my neighbor?  That was the mantra of the show.  It came across in a demeanor that all could appreciate.  

Nowadays, we'll do just about everything we can to keep from having neighbors.  We build fences, we buy bigger lots, we put up shades, and we keep to ourselves.  The once front porch of America has now become the secluded and private back porch.  Now longer do passersby see us on the porch and greet us.  Instead, we escape from the monotony of our lives in to the seclusion of our fenced in and very private backyards.  But aren't we missing something while keeping to ourselves?  


What exactly does Mr. Rogers have to do with the Shema and the spiritual rhythm we talked about in the previous post?  Well, maybe this is a stretch, but Jesus and Mr. Rogers seem to have had a lot in common (beside the sweater jacket and loafers of course!).  What exactly did they have in common you questionably ask?  Well, I think their mantra was one in the same.  It was about being a neighbor.  




Not only did Jesus know the Shema as an obedient Jew, but he actually lived it out each day.  Aaaand, he did something radical (not Jesus right...) and added to our understanding of the Shema in the New Testament.  Sure, for Jesus it was great for us to be in rhythm with God as we sit, walk, lie down, and rise up.  But Jesus made it more than back porch faith.  In fact, he was calling us to return to front porch faith that was lived out in the presence of neighbors.  According to Jesus, the Shema lived out ought to engage our neighbors.  So, as families, if the Shema is about creating a spiritual rhythm for our homes and children, then perhaps Jesus is calling us to create as a part of that rhythm something neighborly.  Perhaps, Jesus is calling us to actually care for and invest in our neighbors.  Perhaps Jesus is calling to make his and Mr. Rogers mantra our own.  Does the world hear us asking them, "Would you be mine, could you be mine, won't you be my neighbor?"  Do they hear anything from us at all?  Or, is what they hear something that is hurtful and damaging?  


Let's take a look at Jesus' revision of the Shema:


36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40)


Everything hangs on these two commandments.  Did you get that?  Not options...We can't really claim to be followers of Christ if a part of the spiritual rhythm we are trying to create in our homes or lives doesn't involve asking people to be our neighbors.  What part of your life as a family is intentionally living out this call?  Will your kids remember the vacations you take them on when they're older?  Sure.  What kind of lasting impact will they have?  Maybe we should be challenged to create experiences that confront our students perspectives or biases.  Maybe we should take family trips where the goal is to serve and etch eternal significance into the spiritual lives of our students.  It's easy to want to create an environment in your home because in essence, you have control.  When it comes to engaging neighbors, it's in God's control.  An exercise in following these two commandments from Christ is an exercise in participating in God's sovereignty, trusting that he is at work engaging the hearts of people before we even come into contact with them.  But remember, he chose us to bless the world (Genesis 15).  As followers, it is a commandment for us to engage and love our neighbors (Am I my brother's keeper?).  


How can we expect students to live out this mantra if we haven't created space for it to become actualized in our own lives?  It's a little scary to be honest.  What if we teach our kids to love their neighbors as if it was the greatest commandment?  Honestly, they might look at our values and our efforts to maintain status quo and see a break in what we say we believe and what we live out.  I want our students to love their neighbors.  I want my one day kids to love their neighbors.  I want them to appreciate the differences that make us so unique and illustrate just how big, marvelous, and creative our God is.  I want them to be better than my generation.  It's time to start teaching them rhythm so the rest of the world can hear the beat of God's heart.