Simple Mission, Radical Life

I was reading an article recently that talked about the "radical missions" movement and how it is leaving many in my generation feeling inferior for having lives that aren't viewed as being radically abandoned for the cause of Christ. The author argued, and I agree, that the traditional and typical American suburban life is just as important mission field as the unreached and unrepentant people groups of the world. Today, as I was going through the day's readings I couldn't help but be reminded of the utter simplicity of the mission that God has called us to, and it does not matter if you are living in suburban America or a mud hut in Nepal - the mission is the same.

As a starting point, remember the story of Paul. Massive conversion on the road to Damascus, traveling the world preaching the gospel, changing the world - a life we would say that is lived radically. When we pick up the story in Acts 20, he is leaving the church at Ephesus, where he has been for the last three years. Versus 28 through the end of the chapter serves as Paul's parting words to the church leaders. Beginning with the charge to "be on guard for yourselves and all the flock" (v. 28), he goes on to say that trouble is coming: "…savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them" (v. 29-30). There will be people that wish to destroy the church and its people; even those within the body will be turned away and begin to lead others astray. Paul is challenging the church leaders to serve as protectors for the flock.

I think there is a striking leadership lesson to be learned here, but it would be easy to write it off as a message for those that lead the church: pastors and deacons. We are all leaders, simply because we have people in our lives that we influence. Paul happens to be speaking to the church leaders at Ephesus, but the whole message is for anyone who has an influence on and a responsibility for another. Whether you like it or not, you are responsible for your neighbor, your coworker, your friends. When He was asked what the greatest commandment was, Christ simply said that we are to love God and love others. Two sides of the same coin, but it is clear that the we have a responsibility to care for those around us.

Return, for a moment, to the passage from Acts. When does the trouble come? Paul says that the "savage wolves" will come after his departure. The Enemy will come to attack after he leaves. For me, this begs the question of why is the Enemy not attacking now, while Paul is present? The answer is that he likely is, but he cannot find a foothold. Again, the question is why? Paul tells us: For the entire time that he has been with the church at Ephesus, he has been admonishing, teaching, and praying for them - meeting spiritual and physical needs.  Spiritually, he has been preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel (v. 32). Physically, he has met the needs of the lowly and poor (v. 34-35).

Go back to the first thing I said: the mission we have is exceptionally simple, and here we have Paul articulating it to near perfection. What has Paul been doing in Ephesus? What has he charged the church leaders to do? Love others by teaching and protecting the truth of the Gospel. Love others by meeting the needs of their hearts and bodies. Love others by leading them deeper into the Lord.

It is that simple. Love God, love others.

We get so worried that about whether we are following God's "purpose" for our lives. We are constantly reminded that a life not "radically abandoned" to the Lord is not really fulfilling the Christian life. Though this mission is simple, it is exceptionally radical. The love that we are called to by stepping into the Christian life is not something we can do on our own.

I won't go deeply into the other passages of today's readings, but they inform this reality that we cannot live this life on our own strength or by our own accord. Psalm 68: 29-30, 33-36 has the Psalmist crying out to God for protection from the "beasts of the reeds" (v. 30). In John 17: 11-19, Christ is praying in the garden before his betrayal and is repeatedly crying out for the sanctification of His people so that we may be changed into people capable of such radical love.

Let me be clear, we cannot step into the mission of radical love without the saving grace of God and we cannot live it out without constantly digging deeper into Him. That what makes this mission so radical no matter where we are. It takes a fundamental transformation of our hearts for us to be even capable of the love we are called to. It takes continual diligence to dig into His truth and likeness. So though this mission of love is simple, it is quite possibly the most radical we could ever pursue.

Today's Readings

Acts 20:28-38

Psalm 68: 29-30, 33-36

John 17:11-19

Back Together Again

Many scholars are saying that today we are living in a Post-Christian America, and I am beginning to believe them. Just look at some of the facts. The CDC estimates that since Roe v. Wade in 1973, there have been nearly fifty million legal abortions in the United States. Just to put that number in context: Under Hitler, the concentration camps alone killed around three million. Under Stalin's regime in the USSR, the lowest credible estimate has the number of unnatural deaths bordering on twenty million. Think about that for a moment. We have killed more of the unborn than Hitler and Stalin combined, and that is just one example of the horrors the "Christian" nation of America has allowed. Divorce rates have risen and the number of illegitimate births also is on the rise. Marriage, the sanctity of life, and the proper respect for sex are three things fundamental to the way Christians understand our walk in this world. Allowing, in a democratic society, for these statistics to be a reality give a strong indication that we are on our way to a non-Christian America, if we are not there already.

My question is this: how have we gotten to this point? When looking at the numbers, the number of churches is up, but the number of people attending a church service each weekend is down. That seems to be slightly counter-intuitive. If we have more churches, shouldn't more people be showing up on Sunday morning? But that is not the case, and to be honest, Christians-it is our own fault.

Allow me to tell a brief story. I was out of town for a family member's wedding. On the fifteen minute drive from the hotel to the wedding chapel, it struck me that there were a lot of different churches lining the sides of the road. I remember counting nearly twenty different churches along the stretch of road we were driving. It was not as if this was a densely populated urban area. We were in suburbia. As we pulled into the parking lot for the wedding, I began to be perturbed by that high number of churches. It gave me pause that a community could not come together to worship God. Instead, they had to find their own clique, their own brand of Christianity.

There is something fundamentally wrong with this understanding of the Church. Division strikes at the heart of Christianity. Unity is fundamentally essential to the life of the Church. Christ tells his disciples that "all men will know that [they] are [His] disciples, if [they] have love for one another" (John 13:35). Later, while praying in the garden before His arrest, Jesus prays that His followers "may all be one" (John 17:21). This is not just a friendliness or a general togetherness. We are called to perfect oneness as a body in the same way that Jesus and the Father are one: "that they may be one as You and I are one" (John 17:22).

Not only does disunity contradict our call to a Christian community, it also contradicts our call to missions and evangelism. Divided groups do not get anything done. It is groups united behind a clear and common goal that make the most impact on the world around them.  Yet, non-believers are getting different versions of the Gospel when they interact with different sects of Christianity. If we are serious about reaching the world for the cause of Christ, we cannot continue to send confusing, contradictory messages, but must instead come to a united understanding of what we as Christians stand for.

A renewed commitment to Christian unity must be had. We can no longer pursue individualistic views of the Church. Too many people view the Church as a place where they can get their private spiritual needs met, and when they are not, new churches pop up or members float between different churches. For unity to recapture the church, a paradigm shift is needed. The Church must again realize its identity as a manifestation of the love of God in the here and now. As such, we are to "bear all things"  in "all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another… being diligent to preserve the unity of the Sprit in the bond of peace" (1 Corinthians 13:7, Ephesians 4:2-3).

To be perfectly honest, I see a need here but am struggling to identify the best method for bringing the Church back together. If we are going to be relevant in today's world, we must be educated, articulate, and unified. If we aren't, then a post-Christian world will become a concrete reality.

For the Lamb's reward. 

The Culture War

I honestly do not understand it. It baffles me that there so much intolerance of others and their ideas. Day in and day out I read blog posts, news articles, and op-ed pieces that constantly criticize. Its on both sides, but recently the heat has gotten exceptionally bad from those that wish to bash conservative Christians. (By conservative Christian, I mean those who support socially conservative policies - like traditional marriage, sanctity of life, and compassion for the poor.)

When the 1920s came roaring in with modernization in technology and social interaction, there were cultural shock waves. American values were in conflict in a major way for the first time in American history. Polarity became an American cultural and political phenomenon. As The Culture War grew its parties became very clear, and they remain clear to this day. Traditionalists face off against progressives. Conservatives against liberals. Everything now is in rigid dichotomy. Every major political and cultural issue - from abortion and homosexuality to gun control and drug use - have two clearly definable conflicting parties. It has truly become a total culture war, whether we like it or not. 

But for some reason, it is no longer okay to stand up for that with which we believe. I honestly do not understand the fact that conservative Christians are no longer allowed to stand up and speak up for their values. Intolerant, bigoted, homophobe, sexist, jingoist. Thats what we are called. Christians are being criticized in the public square, but are not allowed to fight back. We are urged to keep our mouths shut because, apparently, my generation is tired of all the fighting. 

Rachel Held Evans, a blogger and author, posted a blog back in May that was entitled "How to Win a Culture War, but lose a Generation" - it was centered around the North Carolina Amendment 1 that permanently banned same-sex marriage. One quote embodies the entire message of Evan's idea: "My generation is tired of the culture wars. We are tired of fighting, tired of vain efforts to advance the Kingdom through politics and power, tired of drawing lines in the sand, tired of being known for what we are against, not what we are for." She ends her post with the idea that we are ready to be washing feet instead of waging war, to lay down our proverbial arms in this culture war. 

Evans is arguing a sentiment that has become a hallmark of my generation: we should be loving of others - accepting others while looking the other way or not saying anything if their behavior is wrong or immoral. It starts off so well - embrace the grace and love that Jesus taught by showing unconditional grace and love to others. But I think we are missing a very important piece here: standing up for something naturally means that you are against another. From a purely Christian perspective, standing for God means that we stand against that which is not of Him. We cannot shy away from that fact, even if it is an uncomfortable one. 

Let's pause for a moment and consider the story of the woman at the well. 

Traveling from Jerusalem to Galilee, Jesus and His disciples were passing through Samaria. While the disciples went into town, Jesus was left alone at the well. Thirsty, He asked an approaching woman for a drink of water. This in and of itself is shocking, seeing as Jesus was breaking all social customs - talking to a Samaritan (looked down upon because they were a "crossbreed" and removed from the covenant shared between God and Israel) woman (seen as a lesser class than men) and asking for a drink from her jar (which would have made Him ceremonially unclean - unable to participate in temple activities). As the conversation unfolds Jesus offers her "living water" - an eternal source of satisfaction - through the acceptance of Him. Pushing the conversation further, He asks her to go and invite her husband out to talk. She responds saying, "I have no husband." In fact, she had had five husbands and was currently living with a man to whom she was not married. Of course, Jesus knew all of this. Through all of the symbolism in the conversation, the woman comes to know that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. When the disciples return, the woman slips out, taking her leave. (Story found in John 4)

I think there are a few things that are important to take away from this story. 

(1) Jesus is not afraid to cross cultural barriers for the sake of His message. He was breaking every cultural custom known to Israel in talking to this woman. This is like an American sitting and having coffee with the head of the Muslim Brotherhood - there was that much animosity. The message here is clear: the call to following God is one that shatters all of our comfort zones. If Jesus had not had the courage to start up a conversation with this woman, she would not have found salvation. In fact, later in the John 4, it says that the entire Samaritan people group's salvation stemmed from this occurrence. Who are we ignoring because we aren't willing to cross some cultural barriers?

There are people in remote jungles and desert villages that have never had the chance to hear the Gospel. According to the Joshua Project, there are 2.97 billion unreached people on our planet. Thats 41.4% of the world's population  I would argue that this is because we don't have the courage to step out of our cushy comfortable western bubble. 

But the message is not just for the unreached people across an ocean. So many Christians are loath to associate with anyone that disagrees with them. In terms of our own culture we are neglecting the homosexual, the abortion doctor, the prostitute, the drug addict, and the drunk. I would argue this is because we don't have the courage to step out of our cushy comfortable Christian circle. 

The message Jesus gives in talking to the woman at the well is that cultural barriers do not matter when we are called to spread love and grace to other people. The Christian should be blind to cultural and relational barriers. 

(2) Most would like the story to end with the offer of salvific "living water". In fact, most conversations, sermons, and lessons do end there - bringing the outsider in. Do not get me wrong. That is a hugely important message that Christians need to understand, but the story does not end there. Notice the juxtaposition of Jesus offering loving salvation through acceptance of Him and His denunciation of her behavior. While Jesus does not say that her actions were reprehensible, he exposes something she wished to keep hidden. In effect, he brings to light the darkness of her behavior. 

Darkness is the absence of light. Once a light shines in a dark room, everything is illuminated, seen for what it really is. Jesus - acting in His identity as the "light of the world" (John 8:12) - points out the darkness of her behavior. By accepting a life in pursuit of God, He shines his impartial light upon us and our actions: "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Uncomfortably, this light lays bare every action and every intention. In His grace and love, God accepts us as we are, no matter what is illuminated by His equitable light. 

God is love, but He also is truth. They work in union. Accepting His love means that we also accept His truth. This is where we find ourselves in tension - God's ways are not man's ways. It hurts to be told we are wrong, but it happens every time we contradict the things of God. It gets messy, uncomfortable, feelings get hurt, toes get stepped on. But that is the price of following in the footsteps of Christ. 

Now, where things get tricky is when Christ followers take up the mantle of pointing out others wrong action. We have all heard that we need to address the speck in our own eye before we can deal with the plank in another's (Matthew 7:3-5). We have all read the story of the Jesus saying "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone" when addressing a group of Pharisees about to stone the adulteress. These are important ideas to hang on to. We cannot become judgmental or hateful in addressing others and their actions. But the final words of Jesus are important here: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). 

Jesus' teaching was one of love and reckless abandon to the things of God. Our mission - as given in the verses above - is to unconditionally love God and love others, and to wholeheartedly embrace the things of God. That means buying into the right action that He has called us to. Paul is known as to have said "Shall we keep on sinning so that grace may abound? May it never be!" (Romans 6:1-2). We are called to uphold a standard, the standard of God. 

Unfortunately, this standard is what is attacked in our culture war. This standard is said to be bigoted and intolerant. I cannot deny that! This is an extremely high standard to which Christians are called. There are things that are allowed, and there are things that are disallowed. We cannot pick and choose what is comfortable or what we like. In the face of so much cultural criticism, we cannot apologize for standing up for the things of God. This is going to ruffle feathers and make people upset, but we can never abandon the things of God in an attempt to be culturally relevant or understanding. 

Have you noticed that the heroes of fiction, film, and faith have not gained acclaim for hiding in the shadows waiting for the conflict to end? The same two lessons from the woman at the well are embodied by our heroes. They run into the fight, not away from it. Huck Finn fights fire with fire by not turning Jim, the runaway slave, into the authorities. Batman runs into the fray, not away from it. King David literally sprints to the valley to do battle with Goliath. Mother Teresa lived in the slums of Calcutta, she did not just sit on the sidelines wishing something would get done.  But why do they fight? They fight to defend a higher standard. Huck Finn challenges the issues with slavery. Batman safeguards the people of Gotham from those that would wish to throw it into chaos. Kind David stood up to the unrelenting taunts that mocked the beliefs on which Israel was founded. Mother Teresa followed the biblical mandate to protect and defend the poor and marginalized. 

We need to follow in these examples. The Culture War is crucial. It has been waged for decades in America, but the fight for our values in the face of worldly darkness will not end. Our foundation as Christians is under assault night and day, and only by our vigilant and righteous effort will it stand. We cannot shy away from our identity. We must run to the culture war, not back down because we are tired of the fighting. We do so in all love, humility, and compassion. But I will not apologize for standing on the foundation given to me by my life in pursuit of God. I will not apologize for raising my voice when the bedrock of my identity is threatened. 

The Radical Remnant

I can't live like this anymore. This way of life, this set of cultural expectations. I refuse to be known by the standard of my generation. 

Every generation has a personality. It becomes readily apparent when they move into their teenage years and adulthood - making decisions for themselves, acting on their values and worldviews; and my generation is coming of age. Generation Y, Generation Next, the Net Generation, Millennnials. No matter what we are called, our character is coming to light, and it is not a pretty picture. 

Back in 2009, Pew Research put out a study that attempted to characterize and describe our new millennial generation. Here a few of their observations: 

- They are starting out as the most politically progressive age group in modern history. In the 2008 election, Millennials voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by 66%-32%, while adults ages 30 and over split their votes 50%-49%. In the four decades since the development of Election Day exit polling, this is the largest gap ever seen in a presidential election between the votes of those under and over age 30.

- They are the first generation in human history who regard behaviors like tweeting and texting, along with websites like Facebook, YouTube, Google and Wikipedia, not as astonishing innovations of the digital era, but as everyday parts of their social lives and their search for understanding.

- They are the least religiously observant youths since survey research began charting religious behavior.

A reading of history shows that these characterizations are not that surprising. Social behavior is cyclical. The generation before ours lived in fear of institutions - living through Watergate, sex scandals, and other "dirty laundry" being brought to light. Today, governmental institutions are explicitly trusted with everything - from nation defense to health care. The generation before ours were on the edge of technological advance. Today, technology rules our lives. Every resource that could be imagined, wanted, or needed can be found with a few key strokes. The generation before ours had the likes of Billy Graham and the spiritual revile his form of evangelism brought. Today, there is a vacuum of religion. 

While not surprising, these characterizations are disturbing. The observations given here grant some concrete and definable aspects of my generation, but our character cannot be captured in statistics or research institutions. We are sick. Our character is fundamentally flawed. Apathy, lethargy, inaction, disinterest have become the norm. In fact it has become expected that we are shallow, that we do not care, and are only out for what is best for us. Unfortunately this is true. Look at the Pew characterizations again: A politically progressive attitude lends itself to a system of entitlement - is easier to let the government deal with our problems for us. Finding our identity in the minimal characters of a Tweet of Facebook post or finding our understanding by staring at a computer screen leads to shallow purposelessness - is easier to let the technology think for us. Allowing a religious vacuum to exist creates a moral and responsibility vacuum - its easier to decide my own good than having to buy into something bigger than ourselves. 

It would be easy as Christians to paint the culture with this brush, but remove ourselves from the picture. Unfortunately, these characterizations have become all too present in the church today. Our new generation has become apathetic, lazy, and inactive in our faith. But that must stop! We are in a scary spot. The older generation is about to pass the torch to us, but we are not ready. When the average age of a video game user is thirty-five, something is wrong. When more teenagers and twenty-somethings can easily quote television shows but are practically biblically illiterate, something must be done. We are about to be handed the responsibility of heading, leading, and guiding the church but we are not ready. God has called us to radical abandonment in pursuit of HIm and His heart on the earth, but we have settled for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves. 

What we need is a radical remnant. 

God has called us to be radical. Remember the story of the rich young ruler? He came to Jesus and asked what he must do to follow Him. Jesus responded, "Go sell all you possess and give to the poor" (Mark 10:21). Talk about a call to radical action! This guy had it all - power, money, intellect, influence - but Jesus tells him to go give up everything and follow Him. We see this message throughout the Gospels. On another occasion, Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and comma after Me cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14: 26-27). Hate your family? Embrace the torture of the cross? Now that is radical! That is what we are called to as Christians; not the alter-calling, self-helping, "Admit, confess, and pray this prayer after me" Christianity that has become the American church. 

I believe that there is a remnant of people in my generation that get this. They get what it means to be in desperate pursuit of God and seeking out His heart for the world. We need people to stand up and say no more, to break open their Bibles and seek the heart of God, to get on their knees and pray for a move of God, to get their hands dirty going after the things of God through missions. We are called to be the Radical Remnant. We must be the Radical Remnant. 

For the Lamb's Reward.