I have two books on my desk at work right now. The first is called "32 Ways to be a Champion in Business" by none other than the inimitable Earvin "Magic" Johnson (this appeared on my desk the other day with no inscription or explanation and I can only take it to be a practical joke...so if you happen to be the one that left it here, please solve the mystery and present yourself along with an explanation) and the second is a daily readings compilation from C.S. Lewis called "The Business of Heaven." Magic Johnson is not the inspiration for today's entry, by the way...
The Lewis quote centers on the idea of "Membership" and, more specifically, the Pauline / Christian meaning behind the word "member." I recommend you take a quick read through this link as a reference point:
http://tinyurl.com/ku7qfy
Maybe I'm pulling too much out of Lewis's text...or, far more likely, I am carrying way too much baggage into it! I think I am just hard-wired to assume, by default, that God is a generalist...and that the only battle in Christianity is the line that seems to be drawn somewhere between me in my seat and me kneeling at the altar - the "in or out" line of forgiveness that is the foundational cry of evangelical churches: come to the altar and you will be saved.
Not that this foundation isn't critical...but there are after-effects that can sometimes linger when we allow ourselves to be identified simply as "in" or "out." Such a simplistic valuation lends itself to the very definition that Lewis is, I think, rallying against: the unfortunate idea that we are generic 'units' in God's economy.
We are not generic. We are not units. We are not simply one more chip on an othello board turned from black to white. We are individual and important and even critical to His plans. We have a role to play that is exclusively ours. Not that God's will depends upon us, but we are invited to play our part in uniquely fulfilling His will...His plans.
Even more important, I think, is this idea that the body of Christ suffers damage when it loses a member. I don't mean this like the body of Christ is cumulatively 100% and then drops to 99%...I mean it in the sense that losing my pinky-toe impacts my ability to maintain balance and to fully function in the manner I was created to be. And, to me, the idea of "losing a member" isn't about death or distance - it is about letting our brothers and sisters in Christ be taken out by the enemy...or, worse, watching them slumber and allowing them to continue to sleep (the ultimate and most successful of Satan's attacks).
Man, that's like trying to walk when your leg is asleep - or waking up with your arm dangling limp at your side and trying to make coffee!
The promise and hope of Christ is freedom. Out of the pulpit I tend to hear incrimination..."why aren't you free - why aren't you pursuing - why aren't you being more?" (This is not an indictment of my pastor, it is an indictment of my ears.) Among my group of brothers I tend to hear..."I wish he could be free - I hope his heart comes alive - I would love to see him experience this better." Sounds better, doesn't it...but it is still about that person, that "other," and not about "us" as a whole.
What I guess I hear Lewis saying here is that our motivation needn't be purely altruistic because it isn't just about having a good heart for others...it's about having a heart to see the entire body healed! It's about realizing that every individual member, EVERY INDIVIDUAL MEMBER, must become fully alive and functioning and playing his or her part. Otherwise we all suffer.
Lets say I read this morning that 7 soldiers were killed yesterday in Afghanistan. I can make note of that fact. I can, perhaps, mourn that statistical loss. I can even add it to a running total of soldiers "lost" in the war effort this month, this year...this war. But, somewhere in Afghanistan, a patrol is adapting to overcome the loss of a real person who provided unique value to their collective objective. Men are adapting to that specific loss and its impact on their ability to function. Heck, leaders are likely requisitioning new people with similar skills because they can't stop doing whatever that soldier was doing, but they don't have that soldier -- that 'member' of their team -- available to do what they need anymore!
You see...if this idea of "membership" in Christ is more than just an "in" or "out" proposition, I am forced to operate under the assumption that members of the body MUST be fully functional or I CAN NOT FULFILL my role in the body, either. Seems like God would cover this somehow in the bible...oh wait, see 1 Corinthians 12.
So...do I want to see men come alive in Christ and experience the freedom He has to offer? Yes I do. For their sake...and for mine.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Strength and Weakness
I attended my first men's breakfast recently - my first at this church, I mean. I've done a terribly good job of being distant and unengaged at my church - particularly among the general congregation. The senior pastor and I have a good relationship and I'm on familiar enough terms with many...but many more I wouldn't know the names of or wouldn't connect names to faces, if I were pressed.
I think this stems from my experiencing such dramatic transformation among the small group of men I have come to know and trust well...and the fact that none of them attend my church. Its unfortunate that I find myself unwilling to extend similar trust and risk among others whom I see every Sunday (well, many Sunday's at least). I am, to an extent, working to change that by the way.
As breakfast ended and we came to the time of announcements and the morning's agenda, our pastor was called upon to kick things off. He is better than I at maintaining the daily devotional according to our published "read the bible in a year" schedule and chose a verse he'd read that morning (I believe) to remind us of our need to lift one another up: "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up," Romans 15:1-2. His message, generally speaking, was a reminder that we who are strong in Christ should look for opportunities to lend our strength to others who may be weak. He also alluded to the concept that we are each, individually, both weak and strong at different times in our lives and, potentially, in different circumstances. So, in relationship, we are called upon to offer strength into another man's weakness knowing that we might one day be leaning on the strength of others even as we come to feel weak.
I agree. Though I found myself thinking of another concept having to do with strength and weakness...one that had me searching through the Bible in hopes that I wasn't completely unsupported by scripture in this idea: God is made strong in my weakness. Turns out, Eureka! and Hallelujia! that I am not completely off-book (although it was probably a song lyric that I remembered moreso than a scripture reference, to be honest). 2nd Corinthians 12:9 has Paul saying, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"
For me "power" and "strength" are somewhat synonymous (though we could certainly go down a long path differentiating the two) and so I find myself caught between two verses having to do with strength and weakness...one in which I am called to be strong and the other in which I rejoice in God's strength made perfect when I am weak. So, if God's power is made perfect in my weakness and I am called to be strong in the midst of another man's weakness...what am I to make of that!?
I believe God is a God of relationship and that He utilizes His people in the midst of circumstance to deliver on His promises. I believe that genuine relationship among, well, "believers" requires genuine risk and that genuine risk requires our willingness to be genuinely weak. We are not the hero's of our stories - we are victims and perpetrators and the greyness within which we live, while sometimes revealing momentary and unique strength, is far more often a reflection of our deepest weaknesses and failings.
I believe that appearing weak is the most difficult thing for a man to do - and it is often only that: appearing. To be truly weak to the point of truly needing another - any other, particularly a man or a father or a friend - may be the deepest and most compromising crack at the bottom of the dark chasm that separates us from God.
But...
There is incredible hope to be had, not in spite of this weakness but because of it! Among the men whom I trust and love I sometimes, though rarely, dare to be truly weak. In those moments I am begging for and requiring them to be stronger than I. Through that time, among believing men who are for me and for one another, I believe God gives these men His strength - inviting them to deliver on His pledge to perfect His power only in my weakness.
And so, in those transcendent moments, we are fulfilling through one another the promise of God to His people.
I think this stems from my experiencing such dramatic transformation among the small group of men I have come to know and trust well...and the fact that none of them attend my church. Its unfortunate that I find myself unwilling to extend similar trust and risk among others whom I see every Sunday (well, many Sunday's at least). I am, to an extent, working to change that by the way.
As breakfast ended and we came to the time of announcements and the morning's agenda, our pastor was called upon to kick things off. He is better than I at maintaining the daily devotional according to our published "read the bible in a year" schedule and chose a verse he'd read that morning (I believe) to remind us of our need to lift one another up: "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up," Romans 15:1-2. His message, generally speaking, was a reminder that we who are strong in Christ should look for opportunities to lend our strength to others who may be weak. He also alluded to the concept that we are each, individually, both weak and strong at different times in our lives and, potentially, in different circumstances. So, in relationship, we are called upon to offer strength into another man's weakness knowing that we might one day be leaning on the strength of others even as we come to feel weak.
I agree. Though I found myself thinking of another concept having to do with strength and weakness...one that had me searching through the Bible in hopes that I wasn't completely unsupported by scripture in this idea: God is made strong in my weakness. Turns out, Eureka! and Hallelujia! that I am not completely off-book (although it was probably a song lyric that I remembered moreso than a scripture reference, to be honest). 2nd Corinthians 12:9 has Paul saying, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"
For me "power" and "strength" are somewhat synonymous (though we could certainly go down a long path differentiating the two) and so I find myself caught between two verses having to do with strength and weakness...one in which I am called to be strong and the other in which I rejoice in God's strength made perfect when I am weak. So, if God's power is made perfect in my weakness and I am called to be strong in the midst of another man's weakness...what am I to make of that!?
I believe God is a God of relationship and that He utilizes His people in the midst of circumstance to deliver on His promises. I believe that genuine relationship among, well, "believers" requires genuine risk and that genuine risk requires our willingness to be genuinely weak. We are not the hero's of our stories - we are victims and perpetrators and the greyness within which we live, while sometimes revealing momentary and unique strength, is far more often a reflection of our deepest weaknesses and failings.
I believe that appearing weak is the most difficult thing for a man to do - and it is often only that: appearing. To be truly weak to the point of truly needing another - any other, particularly a man or a father or a friend - may be the deepest and most compromising crack at the bottom of the dark chasm that separates us from God.
But...
There is incredible hope to be had, not in spite of this weakness but because of it! Among the men whom I trust and love I sometimes, though rarely, dare to be truly weak. In those moments I am begging for and requiring them to be stronger than I. Through that time, among believing men who are for me and for one another, I believe God gives these men His strength - inviting them to deliver on His pledge to perfect His power only in my weakness.
And so, in those transcendent moments, we are fulfilling through one another the promise of God to His people.
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