living out…as it’s meant to be

What if everything and nothing could be redone
To a shade or a color or a word or a song?

What if depravity and audacity could be unsaid
To a leaf or a branch or a tree or a field?

What if life and death were not as it were
Rather a wind or a whisper or crash or a cry?

Every moment tries to steal the heart away
Or is it the other way ’round?

Every feeling seeks to step on another
Or is that we’re so deceived?

I wonder… but never see
Was I supposed to?

I seek… but I don’t find
Isn’t that ok?

I knock… but no one answers
Should I keep knocking?

This is Article II in a series entitled Living Missionally. Make sure to read Article I before you read this.

There’s a curious passage Paul writes in his epistle to the church in Rome.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”¹

As Christ-followers, we are children of God; more importantly we are sons of God through adoption.² Sons do their father’s bidding. Sons fulfill their father’s request. When you are led by God’s Spirit, you live in daily communion³ with your Heavenly Father; that’s what Paul is talking about.

What is amazing is that we have access to God as Father, as Abba⁴. Abba is the Hebrew equivalent of ‘Daddy’. We have access to God as Daddy. He is our Father. What Paul is saying is that we must understand that the Almighty, is also a much closer thing. He is our Daddy, in the most endearing and loving of ways.

We have become sons in that God has revealed Himself to us as Father, and also in that His Spirit now dwells in us.

When we look towards a world in dire need of the goodness of God, our perspective must shift. We must bring God’s goodness to the world. Fundamental to following Christ is the perspective that we are His hands and feet. Wherever we go, we bring all that is good with us.

Paul continues on from that passage we looked at earlier and writes the following:

For the creation awaits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.⁵

Paul here is saying that all of creation has been waiting for Christ-followers to truly be what they proclaim. If we grew in our love and care for people, for those in dire straits, for those who are helpless, what would the world look like? If we actually cared about the environment and being responsible for what we do on this planet, what would the world look like?⁶

Maybe the reason we have so much trouble living this way is that we don’t really know what our Heavenly Father expects of us. Maybe it’s because we don’t live in that communion with our Heavenly Father.⁷

Most times the reason we can’t live wholeheartedly before God is not because of what’s going on the outside, but because of what’s happening on the inside. We must grow in the reality of our Heavenly Father inwardly, if we are to live out as sons of God upon this earth.

This is Article I in a series entitled Living Missionally. It is all the frustrations and questions that I’ve had for some time finally coming to to forefront in my thoughts. It’s rather short, but a beginning.

We live in a world that is in its own way destroying itself.¹ We live in a world that does not understand itself. There are still millions who die yearly because of poverty, sickness, and other socio-economic influences.² We are willing to rape our planet to whatever end, so we can have the creature comforts we are so used to.³ Every day people go to an eternity separated from God, while those who know God carelessly and ignorantly go about their own business. Sin remains at the root of all of our problems.⁴

Sadly the state of the world around us, is rather telling of the state of our hearts. Have we gotten so fat on the blessings of our Western society that we have lost sight of the pain and suffering of the world around us? Have we become so focused on ourselves that Christ’s call to be salt and light seem to far-fetched?

Nothing we despise in the other man is entirely absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don’t do, and more in light of the what they suffer.⁵
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

What has happened, is that most Christians look at the world through the lens of morality rather than the lens of empathy. We want to push Christian agenda in secular society without ever taking the time to understand those who disagree with us. We get caught up in being angry at the sinful world around us, when in fact what Christ desires of us is that we have a heart that reaches out in compassion and transforming love.

There’s something terribly wrong with a Christianity that isn’t Christ-like in love, compassion, justice, peace, hope, and all that we consider to be integral to our faith. When we don’t seek to live in the image of our Christ in bringing His goodness to the world, then our faith remains lifeless and powerless at best.

Wondering how the journey ahead will fare
As the road seems to linger ever on
I cannot but stop and recollect the thoughts
That question the path and destination

Where do heart and feeling coalesce?
When will it all seem to make sense?

Maybe I was never supposed to find out
Maybe I was never to ask such questions
Maybe I was never to know

I’ll keep walking…

I came across an online forum that was discussing the evidence of God and one’s adherence to faith and such. Someone posted an article I wrote ¹ on said forum.

Let me just say that when you write something, you never expect it to be used for any other purpose than for what it was written for. It was a pleasant surprise to see my article used as a resource in this online discussion. Looking back on the article, I realize I hadn’t written it as a defense for the Christian faith, but rather an invitation to the Christian faith.² Therein lies a fundamental difference in my approach.

I believe it is necessary for the Christ-follower ³ to provide a defense for their faith. The apostle Paul had to give a defense before the Jewish and Roman authorities.⁴ What is most interesting is that Paul effectively weaved in his personal revelation of Christ as the foundation of his persuasive defense.

My premise in the article I had written was, a real and personal revelation of Christ is what makes this thing we call faith viable. It is that fundamental acceptance by faith of what God began and set in motion, in the advent of His Son Jesus Christ in incarnation, death, and resurrection, and the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all mankind as is seen in Acts 2. We have never been the same ever since. The direction of humanity has been radically altered; and it all begins with that encounter one has with God. That was my premise.

The advent of church, where believers meet together in unified worship towards Christ and His continuing work, was another milestone in this direction. We are called to be Christ’s agents of change in this world.

In Christ we find our example. We must engage with humanity. There are examples all around us. We must engage with the homeless man on the corner of a downtown street, who is looking for meaning in his life. We must engage with the over-stretched mother on the verge of nervous breakdown, as she juggles raising kids and the office job. We must engage with the runaway girl now selling her body in the big city to make ends meet. There is world all around us that demands our attention, but more importantly demands our action.⁵

Sometimes I wonder whether the reason we give a defense of our faith, is for selfish motivations of intellectual superiority or social comeuppance. Is it I wonder, because our Christian impetus of being Christ-like has gone so far the other way, that those who do not follow Christ only know of our faith when we defend it? Have we lost the most valuable explanation for faith, a visible illustration of faith in the way we live our lives? If any of these be the case, we as Christians are not doing our job of being salt and light in a world that so desires Christian authenticity.

Long gone are the days of Christianity being preached aloud, but lived only quietly. The world needs Christians to live like their Christ. Though some may never understand the logic behind our faith, they can never argue with the results of lives radically transformed, people living in biblical community, and affecting change wherever they go. There can be no argument leveled against a faith that does those things. When Christians live aloud their faith in our daily lives, there is more than just a defense of our faith; it becomes an invitation to faith.⁶

We must infect change in the world around us.⁷ We must impart something in the lives of the people around us ⁸ as we consistently shine and bring flavor to the world.

The necessary point to consider is this: If logic and reason are our chief weapons in providing a defense for our Christian faith, then we have thrown off the higher call to be Christ-like through our actions and love.