11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. (John 17:11-16)
Jesus taught us that the Christian life is both here and not here. We are to live "IN" this world but we are not to be "OF" this world. The missional life understands this contrast.
When I live "IN" this world I keep my priorities straight. I understand that I was not created for the pleasures and achievements of this world. So instead of pursing possessions, positions, power, etc. I pursue God. When I live in this world I daily surrender myself to what God desires to do in me and through me. Surrendering myself to God keeps me from substituting my plans for God's plans. Everyday God asks me to surrender my plans, my hurts, my hangups to him. When I am willing to do this the priorities of my life change. I no longer believe that my happiness or fulfillment is found in the things "OF" this world. It is like the old hymn states when we turn our eyes upon Jesus, "the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace".
But living in the world is not only about surrendering my stuff to God it also includes being a part of God's working. God invites us to be a part of what He is doing in this world. Simply God is on a mission to redeem the lost world to Himself. The material things that we value and collect are, at best, tools God uses to carry out his mission. Think about your job, your neighborhood, or your circle of friends. Those things are not there to serve you, but simply venues to a greater mission. The people that I encounter everyday God seeks to bring them into His kingdom. To be "IN" the world is to join God in his mission.
However; if I am "OF" the world then possessions, positions, power become the ends. In other words I live my life so that I may keep what I have or to gather more. In this affluent Christian society the line between the two becomes very blurred.
My observation is that most of christian teaching seeks to tell us how to "not be of this world" with little emphasis on how to "live in this world". What I mean is we (and I am included in the we) seem to emphasis our teaching on what we should not do. I do not think there is necessarily anything wrong with this teaching, but I do think there needs to be more emphasis on how to live "IN" the world. Missional followers learn how to live in the world without being distracted by the trappings of being of this world.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
A New Year
A new year always seems to bring a promise of hope. The new year marks a new beginning. Maybe a chance to correct some mistakes. In any event this is the time of year when we make promises to ourselves that we want to be a better person. So we make resolutions in an attempt to better our lives. I do not think I have ever heard someone make a resolution to be more lazy, self-centered, stingy, etc. . . (well maybe I have heard such resolutions but I was only joking about it).
Often we find it hard to keep resolutions to be a better person. They begin with such hope and promise but soon we find that we are back to our old ways. I think I have made the same resolution for the past 15 years. We have great intentions to lose weight, read our Bible more, to save money, to spend more time with family but after a few months we discover that it is business as usual. We find that we want to do the right thing but we don't do it, or that we want to stop doing the wrong thing, but we keep doing it. This can be a frustrating dilemma. It is the same struggle that Paul wrote about in Romans 7. Paul discovered the answer to the dilemma is found Jesus Christ.
The Bible is the story of God's redemption of humanity. It is the story of second chances and hope. It is the story that opens the door to anyone who seeks to have a new beginning. The word redemption means to be set free by the payment of a price. Because Jesus died on a cross for our sins his blood paid the price for our freedom. Jesus paid the price for our second chance.
The story of God's redemption is more than a resolution, it is a transformation. The reason that resolutions fail is because will power alone is not enough to cause us to do the right things. . . to be a better person. What we need is God's power in our lives to transform us. God's transforming power comes to us in our intimate relationship with Him. It is through this relationship with Jesus that He begins to transform us into the person He wants us to be. In fact the Bible goes so far as to identify us as new creations in Christ. WOW! God's plan is to make me into a new creation. I think this is much better than attempting to add a few good things in my life through resolutions. I begin this journey of transformation through confession and surrender.
Father I confess that I have not lived in a manner that you have called me to live. There are things that you desire to do differently in my life and I ask that you would transform me. I surrender my life to you and ask you to use this life for your Kingdom in 2011.
Often we find it hard to keep resolutions to be a better person. They begin with such hope and promise but soon we find that we are back to our old ways. I think I have made the same resolution for the past 15 years. We have great intentions to lose weight, read our Bible more, to save money, to spend more time with family but after a few months we discover that it is business as usual. We find that we want to do the right thing but we don't do it, or that we want to stop doing the wrong thing, but we keep doing it. This can be a frustrating dilemma. It is the same struggle that Paul wrote about in Romans 7. Paul discovered the answer to the dilemma is found Jesus Christ.
The Bible is the story of God's redemption of humanity. It is the story of second chances and hope. It is the story that opens the door to anyone who seeks to have a new beginning. The word redemption means to be set free by the payment of a price. Because Jesus died on a cross for our sins his blood paid the price for our freedom. Jesus paid the price for our second chance.
The story of God's redemption is more than a resolution, it is a transformation. The reason that resolutions fail is because will power alone is not enough to cause us to do the right things. . . to be a better person. What we need is God's power in our lives to transform us. God's transforming power comes to us in our intimate relationship with Him. It is through this relationship with Jesus that He begins to transform us into the person He wants us to be. In fact the Bible goes so far as to identify us as new creations in Christ. WOW! God's plan is to make me into a new creation. I think this is much better than attempting to add a few good things in my life through resolutions. I begin this journey of transformation through confession and surrender.
Father I confess that I have not lived in a manner that you have called me to live. There are things that you desire to do differently in my life and I ask that you would transform me. I surrender my life to you and ask you to use this life for your Kingdom in 2011.
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