The Big Picture

Man, we talk a lot. I love philosophy and talking about what truth is and all that pretentious garbage, but sometimes I get tired of arguing and speculating and I want to live something. That's why I'm thankful for relationships. I had one of my teachers remind me just the other day that men have a deep longing to belong. He's right and that plays itself out in all sorts of ways in all of our lives, but none of us is exempt- we are all desperate to be known and loved. It's who we are.

That God is about relationship is the main message of Scripture. God created us for relationship with him, we messed that up, and he is bent on mending on the tear.

I get so busy babbling and studying and trying to mine golden nuggets of truth, I lose sight of what is really important - loving and being loved. It's the big picture - if we don't experience true love, then we are missing something and we flail, trying to figure out what's wrong. When we do experience true love, we spend all our time trying to have it more and share it with others.

Horticulture

When we think about church growth, we usually think about adding more people. We see these mega-churches that have thousands of people walking through their doors each week and we are sure that growth is possible. We just aren't that sure how to do it.

Let me say that I don't think church growth is just adding more people or more dollars or more programs. I think it's actually helping people to grow, who will help other people grow. When Jesus talked about growth - in the kingdom and in people - he talked a lot about plants. Plants must be healthy in order to grow, and must be growing in order to produce fruit. We don't just need to look good - we need to actually help people to transform and grow. The church will naturally grow that way.

A healthy church is one in which there are people rooted and growing. We do not need to try to bring more people in with our music, tvs, events, or marketing schemes. We need to give people a place they can grow.

Centered

I am drawn to people who are centered - people who can be themselves no matter what, and can handle very emotional and stressful situations because they know who they are and what they're doing. This often seems like an idea reserved for Eastern religions and philosophies - you know, enlightenment, or the Buddhist monk who burned himself alive to protest the Vietnam War.

This idea pops up in psychology, too, in Maslow's self-actualized individual, and in Bowen's differentiation of self. It's the ability to be yourself and be purposeful despite massive opposition and/or pain. It's the highest form of being.

I have a feeling Jesus was just this type of centered. He was able to be exactly himself even when he was hated. He stood next to the most powerful and influential people of his day and was able to speak the truth. And he did not exercise his power in a dominating way. He endured torturous suffering when he could have chosen to retaliate. I'm drawn to Jesus because he's centered.

Where spirit meets body

Sometimes we think of spirituality as other-worldly. We think the people who are the most spiritual are the ones who walk around with their heads in the clouds, talking about stuff that no normal person can understand, using words that make them sound really transcendent.

Actually, I think the most spiritual people are the ones who are down-to-earth, easy to talk to, and make the world a better place. If we think about Jesus, this makes sense. That was kind of the point of the incarnation - to bring God to man and to show us how we are really supposed to live as human beings in the world. Ray Anderson says that, "the Spirit of God became domesticated and fully compatible with humanity in Jesus. As a result, the Holy Spirit that comes to us comes already clothed in humanity, conformed to the human spirit in such a way that the effect of the Spirit on and through our lives is not merely supernatural but natural."

I like that because that means that we can be normal people - in fact, even better - human beings than we were before - not just aloof, above-it-all weirdos.

Working too hard?

We spend a lot of time trying to make the gospel relevant to our culture. We come up with catchy slogans and fancy advertisements that supposedly attract people to God, but I just keep thinking we ought to let God speak for himself. It didn't seem like Jesus was much of a public relations rep for the Father. He didn't have that many cool catch phrases. I mean, I don't even think he would've been called "hip" in his day. It seems like he was just kind of normal: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2).

Jesus was, though, the "radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Hebrews 1:3). I just keep thinking that if God really did create us for relationship for himself, then he is automatically relevant to us as people. I believe that Jesus speaks right to our needs as human beings, and that he meets us where we are. Jesus went right to where there were people who needed him. And the funny thing was, they didn't run away because he was so "holy". There must have been something about Jesus that made them feel comfortable - that drew them to him. He must have been attractive just because of who he was.