I'm with the band. How many times have we heard that in life. Humans love to be great. We love to be heard, we love to be known and we love to be popular. I write blogs to express myself through writing. I don't check my stats or expect many to read this, but I feel lead to put it out there. But, to be perfectly honest, blogs, facebook, and myspace can all be tools for self exaltation. In a band, who is the one who gets the most interviews, the most press, the most "friend" request? The lead man/woman. Right? It is like this in life for some people. This has been generated by our media, our culture, and our advertisements. All telling us to be number one or at least desire to.
Everyone wants to have a purpose. They want to aspire to be great and do great things. We crave attention. What gets neglected sometimes are all the little things that help develop us into what we were made for, what we are destined to do. It is easy to over look the moments in which we can deny ourselves in order to serve others. In our culture of America, getting to the top is one of the most promoted things in our little world. But what it takes to get there is another story and it comes, at times, at the expense of others disregarding them as mere hinderance. I am not saying that striving for greatness is a bad thing. Oh no, no, no, no. Greatness is what God has called us to. But it is not the kind of greatness this world deems as great.
I know, I know, your thinking; "Here he goes with this Jesus stuff again. Well, you are right. So here it goes: Jesus taught that to be the greatest is to be a servant. (Luke 9:46-48) The disciples even fought over who would be the greatest when they got to heaven. But what Jesus teaches us is that to be the greatest is not to be the best, the richest, or the most popular, it is about submitting your life to God and worshiping him above else. The highest position and the richest person is not what God desires. He wants us to be totally depending on Him for everything. When we are so enamored with earthly accomplishments, we focus on our idols instead of God. We can become self exalting.
So what does this mean for us? Do we get so lowly that we try intentionally to be poor to identify with others? Do we give everything we have away and live on the streets? No, I don't believe any of that is necessary. What I think Jesus means here is to be mindful of different circumstances you may be in. At your job, do more than is necessary to get the job done. If you see a piece of trash on the ground at your Church, school, job, anywhere, pick it up and trash it. If you see a co worker needing help at work, help them even if it is not your job. If your neighbor is in need of your help, help out. If your house is dirty (men) and your wife has just had a hard day clean that junk. There are many different ways to serve each other, little things. What is hard about all of this is getting over ourselves. Being "too good" to do something is pride, it is a killer.
Don't be afraid of being a back up singer or a roadie who sets up all the gear. If Jesus is your front man in the band of your life, let him sing and get all the glory and press. This is what we are called to do.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Foo Fighters and Jesus
I know, typically you don't think of those two names together. These are two names that are readily in my vocabulary at any given moment. In the song, "The Pretender", the chorus is: "What if I say I'm not like the others, what if I say I'm not just another one." When I hear this lyric, I think of how people view Christians and Christianity in today's world and time. I think, how could the name of Christ and his followers get so distorted? I feel that it has certainly changed a lot in the past few years, but it seems to still be screwed up.
Music has certainly been a good opener with bands like Switchfoot, POD, Seabird, Anberlin...etc.... But what are other ways Christians could merge into the societies and cultures of the world and destroy stereotypes? Is it all that important? Has it gotten so stupid that some Churches try so hard to appeal to culture so much that they lose the Gospel in the process?
Certainly some do try very hard to appeal with the whole Emergent Church and all. But the fact is, there will always be stereotypes of Christians. All we can do is be legit with our lives. Let them reflect that we believe what we say, preach, read in the bible. That we are to have a servant's heart. We are to freely give: time, money, hearts. That we are not judgmental. That we trust our entire lives with God's plan. If we are not living Christ centered, then why would anyone want to follow Christ. We become pretenders.
It is something that I have wrestled with for sometime now. I know so many friends that proclaim to be Christ followers, yet their lives and actions do not reflect what they believe. At times, mine has been this way. Why would I invite someone to Church when sometimes I don't feel like going? Why would I pray with someone if my heart was not in it? Why would I herald a good book if I didn't really even absorb it?
Just some thoughts and questions to ponder and pray about. I am constantly asking God to give me and my family a heart of compassion at all times for all people. Some are easier to love than others, but the fact remains that without Love, we will perish and we can not say that we have true love for God. Jesus was not a pretender. He was the Savior and the God man. He loved us so much that he laid down His own life to save our souls. Should we believe in Him and follow him and surrender everything to Him, we will not perish, but have everlasting life. I pray that all one of you reading this would ask yourself these questions as I am. My hope is that Christ will continue to change me and sanctify me. No longer will I be a pretender.
Music has certainly been a good opener with bands like Switchfoot, POD, Seabird, Anberlin...etc.... But what are other ways Christians could merge into the societies and cultures of the world and destroy stereotypes? Is it all that important? Has it gotten so stupid that some Churches try so hard to appeal to culture so much that they lose the Gospel in the process?
Certainly some do try very hard to appeal with the whole Emergent Church and all. But the fact is, there will always be stereotypes of Christians. All we can do is be legit with our lives. Let them reflect that we believe what we say, preach, read in the bible. That we are to have a servant's heart. We are to freely give: time, money, hearts. That we are not judgmental. That we trust our entire lives with God's plan. If we are not living Christ centered, then why would anyone want to follow Christ. We become pretenders.
It is something that I have wrestled with for sometime now. I know so many friends that proclaim to be Christ followers, yet their lives and actions do not reflect what they believe. At times, mine has been this way. Why would I invite someone to Church when sometimes I don't feel like going? Why would I pray with someone if my heart was not in it? Why would I herald a good book if I didn't really even absorb it?
Just some thoughts and questions to ponder and pray about. I am constantly asking God to give me and my family a heart of compassion at all times for all people. Some are easier to love than others, but the fact remains that without Love, we will perish and we can not say that we have true love for God. Jesus was not a pretender. He was the Savior and the God man. He loved us so much that he laid down His own life to save our souls. Should we believe in Him and follow him and surrender everything to Him, we will not perish, but have everlasting life. I pray that all one of you reading this would ask yourself these questions as I am. My hope is that Christ will continue to change me and sanctify me. No longer will I be a pretender.
