Yesterday (Sunday, August 6) some in one of our community groups participated in The Minnesota Lynx Great Basketball Dribble. The event was a 2.5-mile walk/dribble to benefit breast cancer research at Mayo Clinic here in MN. Each participant gave (from themselves or a sponsor) $25 to be involved. To be honest, three years ago I most likely wouldn’t have taken a group corporately to an event like this. This event wouldn’t have fit into my grid of what “churches” do. Well, maybe if we went on the walk and handed out information about the church or something similar. But the more I listen to Jesus’ words, the more I understand the Gospel message is a holistic one, impacting all areas of life. I believe Jesus was pleased to see some of His followers walking down the shaded streets of downtown Minneapolis for the purpose of somehow being used to eradicate a horrible disease like cancer. My outlook of what it means to truly follow Jesus is shifting dramatically. I am shifting away from this position: Following Jesus means I am saved from an eternal destiny in hell to a wonderful inheritance called heaven. Because of this I am no longer supposed to sin and I am responsible to convert as many people as I can to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. This, and only this, will keep others from hell as well. Obviously there is nothing false about this statement. I do believe in heaven & hell, and that belief/faith in Jesus is the only way to experience eternal life. I think this outlook of what following Jesus is not wrong, but incomplete. I am finding myself shifting more to a position like this (concerning what it means to follow Jesus): Following Jesus means immersing myself in an eternal (beginning now), amazing, intimate walk with God forever (abundant life). This relationship impacts every area (holistic) of my life. It not only means I stop sinning, but I also really start living. I strive to make a difference in the world by using my gifts, talents, abilities, and sweat to see God’s kingdom & will (see Lord’s prayer) become a reality here on earth. I believe God is active & present on earth now. I want to either join in where His activities are taking place or be used by Him to create environments for others to participate in His desires for this world & the next. So back to the Great Dribble… Even though this was sponsored by U.S. Bank & The Minnesota Lynx (that is a WNBA team for those of you who have no idea) instead of First Whatever Church, I think God was present there. I believe God is concerned for those suffering from breast cancer. Many of the stories of the Gospels describe Jesus’ compassion & healing of physical sicknesses. God is active other places as well. I want to join in. I want Consumed Ministries to join in. I want to not only take the message of “life” verbally to people, but also through service, love, and sacrifice as well.
posted by Jamie @ 10:54:00 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
That is so amazing. I truly wish I could have been there to be part of that. Your post goes along with some of what has been on my mind over the last few months. I've been wondering why Christianity as I always knew it is so limited. Why don't Christians get involved with unbelievers who are doing so much good? Why have we always been separated from things like this walk? Or why have Christians never even acknowledged until recently the AIDS crisis? How do I want to raise my kids regarding this stuff? Just a lot on my mind lately...
Good questions Tara. I wish I had the answers. I hope we can continue to dialogue further about it. Gretchen & I have pretty much made the commitment to expose the girls early on in life to all there is available to them regarding making a difference in this world.
I'm torn between being very encouraged and excited to see you guys talking like this and asking these questions and wishing we had connected on all of this during our time in PA. I spent most of our three-plus years there asking these kinds of questions and getting strange looks. Well, that's not entirely fair, and it's certainly not meant to pat myself on the back or elicit sympathy. I was doing a lot more talking about this way of following Jesus than I was living it, so I'm not sure I was doing anyone much good, including myself. I just think some real community anchored in this journey of "conversion" from a certain kind of Christianity to something quite different would have been good for all of us.
Anyway, it's really great to see and hear this stuff being stirred in us all now, even if we're spread all over the country. All the better, I guess, though I pray it would continue to bubble up in NEPA as well...not that I'm volunteering to go back (though the Texas summers are the only time I even think about missing life as a Pennsylvanian). I'm rambling. I just wanted to say thanks for listening for the Lord, letting him have his way with incomplete understandings of Who he is, and reimagining life as a real Jesus follower, no matter the cost.
P.S. If you haven't stumbled upon N.T. Wright yet, make haste. Start with For All God's Worth: Worship and the True Calling of the Church. I think it's the first book everyone should read on missional living, as it anchors the understanding of this holistic life of following Jesus in worship. We're all trying to grow out of a false dichotomy - that we either do theologically sound Christianity (which is defined about the way Jamie defined it here) or some other more "earthly" Christianity (terms we were led to believe had a negative connotation). Wright makes the most compelling case I've ever heard/read that not only do we not have to make a choice between the two, we miss Jesus altogether if we choose between the two. I'll stop. Just bump it up your reading list. It's short (~130 pages), though you'll read some of it two and three times. It's also less than ten bucks on Amazon. You'll also want to read all the Wright you can get your hands on once you get about four chapters into this.
*Um, when I say "...the way Jamie defined it here," I mean your (Jamie) definition of your old understanding of Christianity. Just so I'm clear - this is all affirming and amen-ing everything you've written.
(Are three consecutive posts the equivalent of showing up at dinner uninvited and dominating the conversation?)
Thad, We recently moved so I have been immersed in boxes & paint and not in books. I'm thirsty for something to read. I'll be checking out your recommendation in the very near future. Thanks! Keep in the conversation. Where are you at again in Texas?
We're in College Station (if a visual helps: tinyurl.com/ebyx3). I lived here during college (Texas A&M), and we've been back for about two years. The unfolding of this is a long, miraculous story, but it's the culmination and continuation of what God has been doing in us for a long time. We came here to be a part of a little church community some friends of mine had started several years ago. God gave us jobs and took care of the other extraneous details. After about a year and a half, I moved into an elder/pastor role and quit my "real job." Anyway, we've never been a part of a community of Jesus followers like this, which is probably the only reason I can serve in the way I'm serving. God has continued to gently (sometimes) reform our understanding of him, Jesus, people, and church. We're unreasonably blessed.
We've been watching you guys from a distance for a while through Abby, and I'm very encouraged by what I can see.
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