Friday Fodder

Anyone at the church I pastor will tell you I'm BIG about discipleship. One of the things I've been convinced of the last few years is the church dumbing down the message we have for the world. In other words, why do people who claim to be a follower of Christ look the same as they did as before? Why is there no change? How important is discipleship? What's the difference between discipleship and someone going over the edge into legalsim? Should these things even be a part of conversation? Check out this video and then let me know what you think.

Is it good to grow?

On 4/18, I posted a question that was asked of me. The question: What's holding you back? My close friend inquired due to being concerned about my spiritual growth. I didn't get much response then (okay, no response), so I thought I would ask again.

What's holding you back? Is it poor choices you make? Is it social injustice? Is it something else? What about future generations? Is there a connection between this discussion and how at times we slow our kids down so that others can catch up?

Have you seen this? This, of course, is physical. How much more important is the question when we consider spirituality? Do I slow down so that others can catch up?

What are your thoughts?

More "Fodder"

Here's something to chew on:

I was recently asked by a close friend, "What's holding you back?" It was, of course, in the context of becoming more like Christ? After thinking about it for a few days and being brutally honest with myself and God, I'll leave it with you.

What's holding you back?

Dangerous? (3)

Alright already! This is the last post on apathy. I'm not sure I care about it anyway. Just kidding!

"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know...The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do...to find the idea for which I can live and die."
Soren Kierkegaard

A lack of vision leads to apathy. But is vision something we create in ourselves?

I think of Saul on the road to Damascus. He was blinded by a light and met Jesus. He was told, "Get up and enter the city and you will be told what you are to do." (Acts 9:6 NRSV) We know Paul was changed from that very day and preached the Good News to the Gentiles.

Joshua and Caleb reported the land they had been promised was "an exceedingly good land." Nehemiah prayed and fasted and then said, "Let's rebuild the wall!" Stephen, the first martyr, saw heaven opened and cried, "Lord don't hold this sin against them!"

There are tons of other examples. In each of these situations, it was God who established the vision. Once the vision was established, it was up to those receiving it to see the vision to completion.

It's more than a warm, fuzzy feeling. It's the difference between living and dying. When God gives the vision, there are no other options. Jesus said we must be willing to die. I believe he means both spiritually and physically.

After all, the vision God gives needs no corrective lenses.

Dangerous? (2)

John Eldredge writes in The Journey of Desire, "The greatest enemy of holiness is not passion; it is apathy." What's behind his comment is the belief that complacency has permeated even those in the Church. In other words, postmodernism has encouraged even believers to become less passionate about the things we used to care immensely about.

We hang pictures in our churches of what we think Jesus looked like. The pictures depict Jesus with docile lambs or children. After all, he's the giver of peace, right? After our own indoctrination, Jesus becomes the peaceloving pacifist always against controversy. We have an allusion of God in the Old Testament being the God of justice and wrath. In the New Testament, God becomes for us the "God of grace and peace." Deep down inside, we think of Jesus lacking any emotion. We glance over the temple narratives where Jesus threw the moneychangers out.

The fact is God showed just as much grace and peace in the Old Testament as He does in the New Testament. God shows as much justice in the New Testament as He did in the Old Testament. God created mankind in His image (Gen. 1:26). He created us with emotions. Psalm 69:9 reads, "It is zeal for your house that has consumed me." In the New Testament, we read, "The Lord is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentence." (2 Pet. 3:9)

Obviously, God in the flesh (Jesus Christ) was and is concerned about what God the Father was and is concerned about - the souls of mankind, the way man lives, and restoring things to the way they should be.


Surely, he expects the same from us!

Dangerous?

I've been wondering something. Maybe you can help me out. How dangerous is apathy? Is it more or less dangerous in the church?

Recently, I was reminded of how Satan attacks. Many believers believe Satan to "play fair." To think Satan is on the "up and up" is pretty foolish. Satan rarely attacks from the front. He attacks from the side and the rear more often. Worse yet, if Satan can get believers to think no attack is coming at all, he's close to victory.

I'm convinced that apathy is one of the many ploys Satan uses to attract believers. How many of us are sitting in churches just "going through the motions"? How many of us are sitting in church because that's just what we do? How many of us think church is a building somewhere? How many of us are passionate about hobbies, our favorite sports team, or our families and yet the passion wanes when it comes to a relationship with Christ?

Since Adam and Eve ate from the tree, there's been something missing. The problem is mankind isn't really sure what that something is. We attempt to fill the void with things of the world. When those things don't work, we relegate ourselves to complacency and apathy.

Could it be that apathy is even more dangerous than doing something wrong? Thoughts?