God's Grace and the Moon

I've recently discovered, with some help, the phenomenon of seeing the moon before dark; sometimes in the middle of the day. I can't explain this entirely, or why I just recently noticed and became fascinated by it. But true enough, on my way to work I stop the car in the middle of the entrance to my neighborhood when I see it, pull over, put my flashers on, and get out of the car and take a picture of the sky. Sometimes friendly neighbors ask if everything is alright and if I need any help. Perhaps you would say that such an action proves that everything is not ok and that I should have accepted the offer. But perhaps you are a jerk. Just kidding.

I'll spare you the science lesson on the cycles of the moon and the Earth's rotation in relation it, and why we can see some of it, all of it, or none of it at various points of the year in the night or day. Because I don't really know. All I know is that the gibbous moon is the best. Period.

Instead, I'll draw some kind of Gospel-centered spiritual conclusion, because that is what I do. You know how different days of the week have different feels? Jerry, Kramer, and Newman discussed this in a conversation you may remember. Monday has a certain feel; it's usually work or school or responsibility related, sometimes gloomy even if the sun is shining (i.e. "Someone has a case of the Moondays", no pun intended). Tuesday and Wednesday feel similar to this, but a bit brighter, perhaps busier with travel or scheduling of mid-week activities. Thursday is the weekend without being the weekend, Friday has a special anticipation and excitement about it, sometimes for no reason. Saturday usually feels like tradition, relaxation, or recreation (football, outdoor activities, family time), and Sunday feels unique altogether; the same things as Saturday but in a different way - perhaps more serious, God-centered, and urgent, knowing the week and its responsibilities is fast approaching. All the days have their allure and their downside. But they feel differently, right? You might be less concerned about not "going out" on a Tuesday night, but feel depressed or anti-social not "going out" on a Saturday night. Why is that? Working during the week seems natural, but over the weekend might be a total drag (depending on your job and required hours). Going to church on Sunday is not a big deal, but anything church-related during the week might just feel totally unnatural. What is wrong with us?

Well, one explanation I would offer is that we compartmentalize our lives to such an extreme, that we are motivated and satisfied differently in different circumstances. And this is dramatically unhealthy. It is unhealthy because we base our hope and joy in many different things, sometimes to our own confusion. When work spills into family life we forget the joy of playing with our kids on a Saturday (PS. I don't have kids), or when our social life spills into work we lose the motivation of a hard work ethic and end up under performing, or when we lose a job, a loved one, or a house, we shut down because we forget that our most lasting, consistent hope and joy should be in Jesus Christ who will never leave or forsake us. It is unhealthy because we delegate the operations of our head, heart and hands separately in our work life, our family life, our social life, and our spiritual life and it does not allow us to bring the controversial, eternal, and transforming reality of the Gospel into everything we do. So our usefulness for the display of the glory of God and the spread of his kingdom becomes a confused mess of half-hearted attempts to do our job, love our family, and live like Christ. Not half-hearted on purpose, but because our heart is divided, nothing gets all of our heart, and likewise, all of Jesus.


And from this perhaps we believe the lie that we are unable to be used by God, or that he doesn't have a purpose for us, or that we can never know what it is. We limp through our professional life, preoccupied with the possibility that it is not what God intended for us (it might not be) because of the lack of "fruit" that it seems to generate. We struggle through our social life, feeling guilty that maybe our actions do not entirely glorify God. We innocently face our family life, unsure what Jesus means when he says to leave father and mother for sake of him. And we insecurely approach our spiritual life, and our Lord and Savior, helpless for him to make us feel meaningful, loved, and whole in the midst of a confusing variety of compartments that seem to have no connection. And all the while God is pleading with us to see him as most precious, and everything else as a gracious gift whereby we can consistently, and simply, live and love according to the once-for-all-time reality of the Gospel: Jesus lived, died, and rose from the dead. What this looks like specifically, for you, in every "compartment" of your life, I can not say. I just plead with you, as the Spirit is pleading with me, to be aware of the possibility and the potential of us not having a family life, a work life, a social life, and a spiritual life - but just a life, that is defined and motivated by the person and work of Jesus.

And you know what will happen? God's grace with show up. And it will be consistent, and sufficient, and life-saving. God through Jesus does not only wish to save us by his grace, though he desperately does. He also desires to keep on saving us by his grace, which he can and will do. And it will come in unexpected, but constant, ways - if you believe and trust in its coming and in its sufficiency. This is what I think our heart and soul needs, and what will connect all aspects of our lives into a glorious, realistic, fruitful witness where we can freely enjoy family, friends, work, and everything else, and in the process glorify our Father in heaven.

For me, the most visible metaphor of this consistent and sufficient grace has been the moon. It is not always visible, but it is always there. And when it is visible, it is beautiful. Sometimes, it is only a glimpse of the complete beauty that I know is coming, and sometimes even in its fullness I long for more. As some of these pictures hopefully show, the "face" or "man" that can be seen on the moon has such a relevant and helpful expression. It is one of awe (kind of looks like the Scream face). Every time I see it, I feel the same thing in my heart: awe that the God of the universe would supply such grace to me. And every time I see it, especially during the day, I have new hope that even when I can't see it, it is still there, and nothing will change that, unless I stop looking for it. So, I do need help, and if my neighbor asks maybe that is what I will say. I will say thanks for asking, but the moon that I am taking a picture of is to me the experience of God's consistent and sufficient supply of grace, and now that I have seen it, I am much better. Maybe that will lead to a conversation or friendship that will allow the display of that same grace in community, i.e., in life.

The Gospel is About God, Not Us

And that is good news.

Last Sunday night at Peppers in Broad Ripple, at Pub Theology, the topic was "why do bad things happen to good people." A familiar one, and a very identifiable one. During the text message version of Q & A time at the end (which is always the best part), Daron Earlewine who leads it each week, completely took me aback by calling me out and asking if I would help him and another member of the band field the questions, that would no doubt be hard. Not my comfort zone, but I obviously wasn't going to say no. Later, a friend would tell me that if I really wanted street cred in a bar environment with many people who had little experience with church or God, that I needed to lose the glasses, get some ink (tattoo), and wear skinny jeans. Not likely, but duly noted.

I didn't say much, but definitely could have. God has not yet given me the discernment on how to speak the unchanging and eternal message of the gospel in a bar. But maybe he is working on that? In short, my answer to the general question of why do bad things happen to good people (or any people), would be something like this: God feels about sin the way we feel about the suffering in our lives. In other words, the same anger, sadness, and confusion we feel when something terrible happens to us or someone we love, is how God feels towards our sin. Even the really horrible stuff. Sin is that bad (actually its worse). But in Jesus Christ, we see God, who not only lived a sinless life that we could never live, but he died, in our place, and endured the most powerful and profound suffering, which we could never endure, so that we would not have to. And he rose from the dead assuring the forgiveness that he promises and the freedom from all kinds of sin and suffering that we will experience in time. For now, these light and momentary afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. And all of that is not just so that we can feel better (though we can, and do), but so that God can get the ultimate glory and we can forever praise the glory of his grace, seen in the gospel, which is the whole point of the universe.

Next time, hopefully, if given the opportunity, I will say something to that effect - in a bar, or wherever.

"God has done everything: election, predestination, creation, adoption, manifestations of wrath, power, justice, wisdom – all of it – to solidify and intensify your praise for the glory of His grace."

– John Piper, Ephesians 1

"Lord, I'd like to start by saying I can hate where I'm at

When this life is hard and situations take me aback

The fight is hard and I can hardly face it in fact

In life it's hard to get up like a bar with weights that's attached

It really seems the situations that I'm facing is wack

I been awakened but now I'm feeling forsaken and trapped

With no hope and I'm broken open for Satan to trap

I been bothered since You Father put this weight on my back

So please erase it's wack, cause when this pain it attacks

My weakness is at it's peak and I'm feeling strained and I lack

The trust in You I struggle through the ways that I should come to You

Lord, what am I gonna do? It's true this pain it distracts

But I see my only hope when my backs on the ropes

Is in You so I read through the facts that You wrote

The pain may fade away, but if that's my only hope

Then You don't get the glory alone not even close

Lord, it may get better but it may not

So when I pray God, I pray I

Would trust You whether or not the pain stops

So when the the pain falls, coming down like rain drops

I just gotta cling to You

Heavenly Father, in Your Word You say we can build

Because of Jesus and the blood that He graciously spilled

Lord, I thank You for real, cause my Dad's always there

I can cast all my cares plus the weight that I feel

My situation is ill, I ain't asking to be making a mill

But is all my money for paying my bills?

It gets crazier still, my soul's on dangerous hills

A target for the world, flesh, and Satan aiming to kill

While the wicked who be hating your will

Sit by the lake as they chill, taking in sensational thrills

Lord, Your Son I admire, He's the one I desire

I'll run through the fire if You say it's Your will

But at times it's hard to hear You, the world doesn't fear You

Lord, give me a clear view Your face is concealed

Help me to be patient until Your grace is revealed

And in the mean time, between time, be praising You still

Lord, it may get better but it may not
So when I pray God, I pray I
Would trust You whether or not the pain stops
So when the the pain falls, coming down like rain drops
I just gotta cling to You

Lord, You know I'm hoping that my situation will switch

That You'll show me You're amazing by erasing it quick

But I've noticed that my hope was in You changing it quick

Instead of knowing You're enough Lord I was chasing Your gifts

But then I opened up Your text and looked at David and them

Their situations was grim, but it ain't change them within

They prayed You'd take it away but sought Your face in the end

And found comfort in Your justice and the grace You extend

So in this life full of strife if my days get grayer

I'm content with the fact that You'll stay my Savior

No change in my King, man, it ain't no greater

Comfort than what's found in You that's so major."

- Cling to You, Trip Lee and Shai Linne

The Gospel is Relevant!

I have good news for Kanye, who almost cried on the Jay Leno show a couple weeks ago and is taking time off to "analyze how he's going to make it through this life and improve", and David Letterman, who through nervous joking admitted to his confrontation with (some of) the frightening consequences of his mistakes. I wanted to pass it along. I hope they see it:

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

That's all. By the way, it is good news for all of us too.

The Fellowship of the King

As with all my blog posts, this subject really matters. And this post title is pure awesomeness. To my new readers, yes, I am really that arrogant. To my old readers, do you really exist? My blog traffic has been less this summer, and coming into the fall, maybe that will change, maybe that won't. Either way, I'm not convinced that anyone has noticed. You should prove me wrong with a comment. :) On an unrelated note, I joined Twitter recently, and I can guarantee that if and when I ever "tweet", it will be sarcastic and probably won't matter. Per the commercial:

"I'm sitting on the patio."

"Dad, I know you're sitting on the patio!"

"Hehehe."

Not really. In all seriousness, as Tim Tebow says, God has already tweeted everything he needed to (its called the Bible), so why do you care what I would say at any random point in the day? On the other hand, the purpose of this blog is to try to articulate what God has already said in a way that is helpful and meaningful given the complexity of our culture and the complexity of what you might be tweeting about right now. So that is why it matters. But, knowing my initial hesitation and now affection for facebook, I will also probably make the same transition with twitter, and will probably tell you about how comfortable my couch is on a Sunday afternoon, hope you care, and also follow how comfortable your couch is, and definitely care. And I will probably try to tweet the Gospel in less than 140 characters, if that is indeed possible. So I'm not hatin' on twitter, just making sure our priorities are straight. Are we cool? My favorite "tweet" so far is by John Piper: "In Christ, the best is always yet to come. Always. No exceptions. Forever."

Wow.

FELLOWSHIP REDISCOVERED

So, fellowship. What the heck does this word mean, and why does it matter? To bring you up to speed, for most of the year, my posts have been working through and dancing around two main questions:

1. What is church, how should it work, and why does it matter?

2. What does it mean to be a Christian, and why does it matter?

I went to a pivotal conference in April called Entrusted with the Gospel, which was a exposition of 2 Timothy put on by The Gospel Coalition. I then began the journey of leading a "Life Church", or a unique version of a small group bible study that is meant to de-compartmentalize our lives so that all of our worlds can collide into a glorious mixture of Christ-like living that is both natural and transforming. And I was, and am still, committed to keep the balance of gospel word and gospel community in this journey, trusting that the transforming power comes from the gospel; not just any word and not just any community.

Four months in, I'm excited and challenged. We have not yet answered the question about how exactly to "do church" and we haven't yet found the passage in the New Testament that outlines it perfectly for us (a combination of Acts and 1 John is a great start). We have not yet walked and lived a perfect balance of biblical and relational communion. Some would like to have more fun and some would like to have less (that was partly facetious). We have not yet served with our hands and our lives the less fortunate in our community to the degree we need to. And we have not yet seen hundreds of people come to saving faith in Jesus.

But! We have been faithful to the Bible, and we have been patient with and sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We have offered a community to Christians and non-Christians alike where they can be welcomed, loved, convicted, and presented with the most precious and important message in the world. While prayer is being taken out of the schools, it is being brought in to the bars in Indianapolis. "Pub Theology" is opening the door for biblical and spiritual conversations to those who would never set foot in our churches. If you like beer, but not church, come hang out. We want to party with you. Christians are working out their salvation together across the city in authentic, consistent communities, and people are mutually encouraging each other's faith. God's word is speaking actual grace into people's lives. I am excited about what God is doing, and challenged about what more he could do with our faithful proclamation and demonstration of the gospel, and our gracious engagement into our culture.

MISSING OUT

But still I think that we should fully understand and practice the biblical concept of fellowship so that we don't miss out on what God desires for us. We could miss it, and I don't want that for anyone. At a recent "Life Church", the conversation in our group led me to ask the following questions (which of course, led to several other questions):

1. Are Christians generally more comfortable going to a bible study where they don't know anyone else, or to a social event (i.e. a cookout) where they don't know anyone else? What about non-Christians? Why?

2. Can a community of people who have nothing in common physically, emotionally, socially, professionally, financially, or culturally, but share a passion and unbreakable faith for Jesus Christ, experience fellowship?

3. If so, can a person who does not share a passion and unbreakable faith for Jesus Christ experience fellowship? If not, how should they fit into a Christian community?

Consider those questions. I won't answer them directly because I don't really know, and the answers no doubt vary. But I will follow them with some truths that I have been convicted of and that I think can be foundational in our experiment with and experience of fellowship.

In short, my main concern is mistaking fellowship as the casual, comfortable, perhaps shallow, social interaction that references the Bible instead of feeds on the Bible; or mistaking fellowship as starting with our relationships with other people instead of our relationship with God; or mistakenly excluding non-Christians because of their lack of experience, belief, or comfort level with the Person and Work of Jesus Christ or "churchy" things; or mistakenly welcoming non-Christians into community without ever making any mention of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the foundational and transforming power that makes fellowship authentic; or mistakenly never going deep and being real with our Christian communities and likewise missing out on the experience of on-the-spot grace from the Word of God; or mistakenly serving each other only (which we must do!) without ever serving the outside world. Basically, my main concern is getting fellowship wrong and in turn, doing a disservice to Christians and non-Christians alike, and bringing dishonor to God.

WHAT'S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?

So, simply put, I have been convinced that authentic, biblical fellowship is the experience, proclamation, and demonstration of saving grace, not just common grace. Without getting too theological (that would be terrible!), what I mean is this: our fellowship should start as fellowship with God (this is what 1 John is about). Our fellowship then should be based on, and exist through, our love for people. Our love for people should be based on, and exist through, the love of God for us. And the love of God for us is amazing. God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. God's love for us is seen most fundamentally in the cross. God also loves the world so much that He allowed the sun to rise this morning; He gives us mouths to breath and eyes to see and ears to hear the wonders of His creation. He certainly didn't have to do any of that. The latter is common grace, and the former is saving grace. If we base fellowship on common grace only - that God loves you because He created you and created the world for you to enjoy and steward - and not base fellowship on saving grace - that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us - than we will not be basing it on the complete love of God, and people will likely not be transformed, and God will likely not be glorified.

Do you agree? I think it's going to be hard for Christians to love each other in fellowship the way God desires unless we understand His love first. And His love is not touchy feely; it is bloody. I've been convicted that anything but cross-centered love (and fellowship) is going to ultimately be self-seeking, temporary, and lacking. Because anything not centered on the cross leaves room for boasting because it is about what you are doing, and not what Christ did. In no other context but cross-centered ministry can you love others and do good deeds out of complete selflessness, knowing that you don't deserve ANYTHING; but God loved you anyway and died for you, which makes you want to love others the same, not necessarily so that you can die for them and so glorify yourself, but so that they can better see Christ who died for them and so glorify Him and save their souls.

IS THIS PRACTICAL?

Is this kind of cross-centered love practical? Yes! Of course. I posted on The Cross and Swine Flu a little while ago that took some ideas from Mark Driscoll's book Death By Love, and elaborated on them. Some of these were extreme cases. In more everyday life, what does it look like? Well, I've never liked the phrase "doing life together", and I'm starting to embrace the phrase "working out our salvation together" in its place for this Life Church model. The reason I don't like this first phrase is that I always wonder, what is it we are doing?

Life! you say. Well then, what is life? Is it your job? Is it watching football? Is it having people over for a cookout? Is it having conversations with friends? Is it having a family? Well yes, in your life you do all these things. But is life not most fundamentally sanctification, or growing closer to Christ's likeness, by seeking His Spirit through His word for guidance, and by leaning on other people for encouragement? Is it possible that practicing fellowship as "doing life together" could fall short of what God desires for us? Is it possible that "doing life together" gives an insufficient read on the eternal life that John was so passionate about describing? I think it is possible. Unless, of course, we are more specific about what "life" means, which is why I think a more helpful, biblical phrase is "working out our salvation together". This also allows fellowship to be practical without everyone in a certain group or church spending every waking moment together.

I still struggle a little with what it looks like for a non-Christian to easily transition into this type of fellowship. I think though, that if they see and understand our love for them that is based on the cross, where there can be no boasting, and where God offered his most precious treasure (Jesus) for the likes of our undeserving souls, and where they realize that they are undeserving also but that we (and God) love them anyway, than that love will not only be appealing, but also transforming (because it will not just be common grace; it will be saving grace). In this way, our bible studies should be such that anyone off the street should be at least as comfortable coming in to a group of people they don't know, as they would coming to a cookout of the same. Because they will see both love through us (that is common) and love through the Bible (that is saving). Love that is based on anything else but the cross (Jesus's life only, good works, spirituality, social togetherness, etc.) will not stack up. At least that is my conviction.

So stay tuned as I continue to wrestle with and experience this type of fellowship, that is first and foremost about, and with, the King. Please help me wrestle if you'd like, just try not to be like Gollum. That guy is messed up.

Poetic Paraphrase

I love Christian rap. Here is a taste, without the music:

2 Corinthians 10 - 13

I’ve boasted of your readiness for a year.
Give them your heart and not the pressure of your peers.
They say I’m bold in letter, meek in face,
If I begin to boast, I boast in grace.
If they can boast then I can boast in position.
If they can boast then I can boast in tradition.
I can boast in my physical con-dition,
Stoned to beaten but to God’s glory my affliction.
I can also begin to boast in the vision
Of glory and paradise that I saw with precision.
But if I saw the vision
God made a decision
To put a thorn in my side but His grace is sufficient.
So if I’m unimpressive it’s for the glory of the Lord,
Me being humble is the whole purpose of the thorn.
And if you want evidence of my power in the Son,
Next time I come, I will not spare anyone.
Test yourselves, to see if you are of the faith,
‘Cause the runner knows he’s running, if they’re runners in the race.
Finally brothers, be complete and like minded,
The love and peace of God, will keep us united.

Artist: 116 Clique
Song: This is My Heart
Album: 13 Letters