More on Poor

It's true, we are all "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked," but we spend a lot of time and energy trying to convince other people and ourselves that we're doing alright. People even try to convince themselves that they have a good life because God has blessed them, when Jesus says that the poor are the blessed ones.

So, does that mean we're all supposed to become financially destitute? No, but it does mean that we should realize what's true - that we already are poor. Then, we should start acting like it. Poor people are grateful for what they do have and they have a knack for realizing what's important in life. They also use what they have to help others because they know what it's like to need a hand. If you're poor, you don't mind being around other poor wretches and you know that anything you have can be taken from you in an instant.

Calculated Risk

Most of us are not the ones to tempt fate. We don't rock the boat cause we're afraid everything will turn upside down on us. So, most of us spend a lot of time trying to make ourselves happy and everyone around us happy. It really gets kind of boring. That's why I appreciate Jesus so much. He did things that really made people mad. He didn't spend a lot of time smoothing things over, sugarcoating them, or making peace.

And I don't have a Messiah complex or any delusions of grandeur, but I would like to be like Jesus in ways. Jesus was calculating. He knew that certain things would make people mad and he did them anyway to teach them important things like what is important. I guess it's true that Jesus did not worry so much about what people thought about him. He just did what he thought was right. If people got offended in the process, it was because their hearts were in the wrong place - not his.

Real Ministry

I spent some time today at a place called Inter-Faith Ministries. Inter-Faith Ministries is an organization which brings together people of different faiths - Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Christians and more - to promote justice among other things like feeding, housing and clothing the homeless. The saddest thing I heard all day was that there were some "Christians" who refuse to partner with the Ministry to help some people who could really use it. These "Christians" will not support an organization that brings people of different faiths together. I hated to ask, but I did anyway: was it only Christians who had such problems working with those of other faiths? Yes it was, the beautiful woman giving me a tour said.

Come on - no one's asking you to worship a different god. They're just asking for your help. You're not going to "catch" something by rubbing shoulders with someone of a different faith. If you are so concerned with the truth, how are you going to communicate it to people you are too intolerant to be near? If everyone there is doing something Jesus said was good to do, what's the problem?

Something strikes me about people who actually work with the poor and broken (as opposed to the religious people who stay in churches pretty far away from the poor): they have far less scruples. Their concern is the people they are working with, rather than policy or right belief. They don't have time for small moral issues because they are so worried about righting huge moral issues, like feeding those who are starving.

Big Ideas

I sure get a lot of big ideas. My wife laughs at me and gets a little nervous sometimes because if I followed through with half the stuff I come up with in my ample-sized cranium, then I'd probably be some homeless guy on the street (not that that would be such a bad thing) because I'd screw everything up. She's right when she tells me to be realistic.

Most of the big ideas I have are a little too big, especially because I haven't been faithful with the small stuff. If I'd stop spending so much time dreaming up these big ideas and focused on the stuff in front of me (my family, the relationships I already have and those I can already serve, and the tasks with which I've been entrusted), I'd probably be a great man. Instead, I usually settle for dreaming up some great ideas that are never realized. Here's a great idea: taking care of what's been put in front of me and using what I've already been given.

Pushing

The Father never fails to push you out of your comfort zone, it seems, but that means he really loves you. My dad, who was my coach for basketball, baseball, and soccer growing up, used to tell me something quite similar. He said that he pushed and challenged me more because I was his son, because he expected more from me and because he always knew I could do better. For a time, I thought that was an excuse for getting mad at me, but now I realize that it was because he loved me that he pushed me.

Think of the alternative: your father and/or Father doesn't expect much from you, doesn't believe that you can rise to the challenge and is content to leave you where you are. That doesn't seem much like love to me. It's apathy and it's really quite sickening when you start to think about it, but that's what passes for "love" in our lives so often. I must admit, I'm guilty of wanting to be left where I am and wanting to leave others where they are. That's not love.

Life is Hard

I've started thinking that if my life is not hard, maybe I'm not doing something right. It's all over in the gospels - Jesus says that if you follow him, then people will hate you and if people hate you because of him, then you must be doing something right. He also calls us to take up our crosses, which is common knowledge in Christian circles, but how often is it practiced?

I'm as guilty as the next guy. There's a lot more I could be sacrificing for the cause. And I'm also guilty of the following:

Most of the time, we just explain the whole sacrificing thing away, saying that Jesus just meant that we have to be willing to do things like lose our lives, or sell everything and follow him. Well, OK, but that's not what he said. We don't really give up much because we have it in our hearts to do it - or at least we think we do. When it comes down to it, would you sell your house? Would you quit your job? Would you do things that might make people hate you? I don't know if I would or if I do.

Down is the New Up

I was listening to a Radiohead song called "Down is the New Up," and I was thinking about how things are really starting over. I don't want to go all "commentary-on-the-culture" on you and I know thoughts like this have been written about a thousand times over (which is a commentary on our culture itself), but we seem to be in an age where a common thought is that there is no new thought. We are post-everything: postmodern, postchristian, post-i don't know and everything is "vintage" and "retro" (blah) because we just don't have anywhere new to go.

Jesus started a new age. He was there to turn everything over and start a new way of thinking, believing, and living and I think he is still doing so. This post- stuff can be good if you like keeping things fresh. I do and I think Jesus does. If anything gets stale, it's not because God has gotten old and boring. It's because God is moving in new and different ways and has begun a new way of up and we have yet to catch up with him.