Living Like You Are A Human

"...the Christian is called to exhibit the characteristics of true humanity, because being a man is not intrinsically being sinful man, but being that which goes back before the Fall, to man made in the image of God."

Schaeffer's thoughts from The God Who is There indirectly touch on an interesting facet of how we define what it means to be human. We often tend to think of people solely in the context of Genesis 3, The Fall. After all, one of the basic facts of life is that everyone is fallen, right? What we miss is that in order to fall, you first need to have been standing. Genesis 3 doesn't make any sense without Genesis 1-2. You have to start with a good creation for that creation to fall. Evil isn't original - either in chronology or it's ability to create. It is proceeded by good and can only twist what is already there.

This perspective should impact how we live life in at least two specific ways:

1. Recognize the Twisting Effects of Evil - it touches everything, including the people with whom I interact. In the Truth Project, Del Tackett presents a helpful analogy: People who believe the lie of sin are POWs, not enemy combatants. The fact that they have been fatally messed up shouldn't prevent me from seeing that they were created to be something good. 
2. Enjoy Life Fully - Following God and enjoying life is a both/and proposition. G.K. Chesterton puts it this way in Orthodoxy: "The more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild." Good things running wild, life filled with zest, places and people enjoyed simply because God created them and they were created to be enjoyed - that's part of the life others should see in us. It's easy to evaluate experiences solely in light of their practicality: How much does this cost? Will I be learning something valuable? Is there a more profitable way to spend my time? Those are the questions that I have been quick to ask in the past. While there is a place for questions like these, we also need to recognize that they can completely miss the fact that some things we ought to do simply for the sake of enjoying God through his creation.

Following God and enjoying the world is a both/and proposition. In fact, on some level enjoying the world provides us with a unique way to worship God. With this in mind, what are some ways that you will be enjoying God through His creation in the near future? What are other facets of living a truly human life which we should be thinking about?

Flags Jump-Starting Discipling

Yesterday was a big day for my family. Flag Day. While there is historical significance attached to this day, it is not the history which makes this a big day for us. Rather, for years this is also the day on which we get up a couple hours early and run house to house setting up roughly 1,200 flags through several local neighborhoods. What can I say - strenuous work has a way of asserting itself as a priority for us.

As we got started going, I was mentally gearing up for loping at a decent pace and finishing the task as quickly as practical. I mean, as fun as running/walking for several hours is, there's no point to extending the time any longer than needed. Which is why I was a bit put out when my younger sister, no more than 2 houses into the day, had a question about how to stick the flags into the ground. "Really", I thought to myself, "there goes hopes for a quick, smooth day."

This was followed by a reminder from the Lord of what this really was - an opportunity to teach my sister. Indeed, you might even say it was an opportunity to disciple her. As that thought stuck with me, there were several facets of discipleship which our flag run highlighted for me:

1. Discipleship Isn't Convenient - I had this conception of discipleship as something which I could control. That is, it could happen at the pace I wanted to make it happen, almost as if it could be added to a calender and scheduled in advance. The truth is, that's not always the case. It's a process which is happening all the time. You can't turn off when you are speaking into someone's life - even if it would be more convenient to impact them at a different time.
2. Discipleship Happens in a Historic Context - As was mentioned above, we've been running these neighborhoods for years, generally several times each year. Most of what I was teaching/modeling for my sister was skills which I'd learned walking with my Dad when I was helping him as a young tyke. When disciplining others, it is helpful to remember that there is history behind what they are learning. That history helps give a context for the idea/skill being taught as well as added authority to the one teaching.
3. Discipleship Doesn't Always Look Like Teaching - My passion includes sharing new ideas with people. There aren't many things which get me quite as excited as seeing the lightbulb turn on and knowing that someone has picked up a new idea and will be seeing the world in a new way moving forward. Not all teaching is going to happen in a pre-planned, structured environment. Conversation in the car, project we are working on, putting flags in the ground - there are plenty of times where I'm discipling others that aren't in a classroom.

Down the road, I'll be trying to learn from my from our flag running experience. Specifically, I'll be trying to keep a closer eye out for the unexpected platforms which God will give to impact the lives of those around me. That being said, I know that discipleship covers quite a bit more than I've been able to look at in this post. With that in mind, I'd love to get your input. What facets of discipleship have you found to be important to keep in mind? How are you planning to be more intentional about your discipleship of others moving forward?

Stress and Recentering

Stress - I recently had a run in with this friend. Much as I'd like to leave it behind, my experience so far has been that stress is an inevitable part of life. Like it or not, we'll all continue to run into it through life. While pondering my immediate circumstances, I was reminded of several facts which added perspective to the situation. Before jumping into them though, we should set some Scriptural context.

While I didn't realize it at the time, the path my thoughts took was based on a sermon I heard a year or two ago in Moses Lake, WA. The pastor of the Church I was attending was working his way through the Psalms of Ascent. For Psalm 121, the first verses set the focus for the sermon: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1-2, ESV)

The thrust of the message was that our constant response to life needs to be one of looking back up to God. In so doing we consciously make Christ the center of our focus, rather than the circumstances. This ends up pushing our focus up and beyond the immediacy of what we are walking through.

With that background, there were two facets of looking to Christ which jumped out at me:

1. God's Providence - Stress is a perfect opportunity to practice trusting in God's control over life. I wish I could say remembering this fact magically changed my circumstances. It didn't. The hand I was working with was still the same. What it did do though was add a fuller context to my view of life. These weren't simply a set of random circumstances I may or may not be able to control. Instead, they were pre-planned activities which God arranged for my benefit and His glory. Even though the stressful circumstances remain, remembering that God is in control is part of centering our focus back on Christ.
2. Limited Horizon - The other facet which which jumped to the forefront of my mind was the fact that I didn't have much perspective on what was actually happening. The space between the here and now and when I hit the horizon line of the future is pretty limited. That's not limited to just a few occasions. For just about everything that life throws at us, the horizon of our perspective is very close. Sure we'll be able to see further in some cases than others, but rarely will we have anything close to an adequate vantage point from which to understand the path we are walking on at the moment. Realizing this should also help us remember to focus back up on Christ, whose vantage point encompasses all of history.

And, there you have it folks - nothing to deep or brainy, but hopefully some thoughts which help you in your walk today. Look up to Christ and center your focus on Him. He knows both where you are at and what is coming. Further, He has planned it for your ultimate good and His greatest glory. It's hard to ask for more than that.