Faith - The Campsite and the Trails

Faith has a campsite and miles of hiking trails. The campsite is where the stories are preserved. The trails are where the stories originate.

More often than not churches resemble the campsite. It's the place where we preserve, build walls, fortify and safely talk about the great hiking adventures. As important as stories are we can't forget where the majority of the adventures come from. They come from the trails, out in the mountains, out on the edge.

A authentic 21C church provides an intersection where the safe and the unsafe collide. Playing it safe will not build prevailing churches any more than it will build a prevailing life.

"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Hellen Keller

Commander's Intent

In the opening pages of “Made to Stick", authors Chip and Dan Heath talk about the way the Army adapted its planning process in the 1980’s and invented what they call, “Commander’s Intent” or CI.

CI is a crisp, plain-talk statement that appears at the top of every order, clarifying the desired end-state of operations. The CI never specifies so much detail that it risks being rendered obsolete by unpredictable events. The army believes that with a clear CI, you could lose the ability to execute the original plan, but still never lose the responsibility of executing the intent.

I’m often surprised with God’s apparent reticence to give detailed plans. In fact, usually I don’t even receive detailed sentences. I’ve learned with God you have to be listening.  Although you wouldn’t know that based on much of my prayer life. Forgetting that the burden is actually on me to wait and not on Him I plead for God to listen to me!  He responds.  Sometimes.  What follows is usually a short, controlled response… “Go”, “Wait”, “Pray”, etc…  He doesn’t seem to be too worried about the details.  Although one could argue he used to be.   Take a look at Leviticus or Numbers… yeah, lots of details. But things didn’t go quite right with the detailed plan. God, desiring mercy over sacrifice (Psalm 40:6, Micah 6) and faith over rules (Galatians 3) switched things up. In a jaw-dropping adaptation of the plan He chose to clothe Himself in humanity. Trading in the predictability of heaven for the unpredictability of earth He was tempted just like us! These intense temptations, these dark emotions… this exposure to the volatility of the human condition forged what I would now like to call the Commander’s Intent according to Jesus, “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself" which is good to know because unforeseen obstacles breakdown plans in life just as they do in the battlefield.

-I have a sister going through a complete job change at mid-life. Unexpected.
-I have a sister-in-grace going through the loss of her father. Unforeseen.
-I spoke with a friend recently who was broken hearted about some decisions their pastor had made. Not in the plan.
-Oh, and I know of pastor who is struggling because of decisions made by a few of his parishioners. Unpredicted.
-And then there's me. Yeah, I've got issues! I was unaware of them as well. Believe me, they weren't in my plan.

This is a reminder that all these problems, the unplanned scenarios, these situations where we feel as though we are squinting through a fog, ... they aren't the intent. The plans might be derailed, but above all else the CI remains: Love God and love others.

Man-Created Trinity of Terrors

"I'm not to big on religion," Jesus said a little sarcastically, "and not very fond of politics or economics either." Jesus' visage darkened noticeably. "And why should I be? They are the man-created trinity of terrors that ravages the earth and deceives those I care about. What mental turmoil and anxiety does any human face that is not related to one of those three?"

Mack hesitated. He wasn't sure what to say... Jesus down-shifted. "Put simply, these terrors are tools that many use to prop up their illusions of security and control. People are afraid of uncertainty, afraid of the future. These institutions, these structures and ideologies, are all a vain effort to create some sense of certainty and security where there isn't any. It's all false! Systems cannot provide you security. Only I can."

"The Shack", Page 179

Broken Relationships

I had a friend ask me about a relationship that didn't work out. They wanted to know why and if God was punishing them. Here's the essence of my reply. If you know someone that could benefit from this email it on...

a) The most simple explanation is it's possible God is sparing you from a relationship that is not in your best interest. For that you should be thankful.

b) A more complicated explanation is it's possible that this relationship just didn't "work out" because God allows us all to make choices, have personalities and make decisions that influence how our lives are lived. That's a great freedom and a great responsibility. Sometimes because of those decisions relationships just don't materialize like we had hoped.

c) Whatever the reason the relationship failed, your job now is to not live in the past or to be a victim. Learn and move on. Be stronger for it.

d) Finally I would say that I know for sure God is not punishing you. That's not how He operates. Yes, life is painful sometimes but there is a difference between the pain from a surgery and a pain from a mugging. Both have guys with knives and masks asking your for money.

One is meant for your harm.

The other is meant for your good.

Sink or Sit

My friend, Ron Lush, sent me this excerpt taken from: In a Pit with Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson, pages 114-115

Sink or Sit

Peter gets a bum rap. Peter is the disciple who denied Christ three times, but he was the only one who got close enough to Jesus to get caught. Peter is the disciple who impulsively cut off Malchus' ear when the lynch mob came to arrest Jesus, but he was the only one who came to Jesus' defense. And he is the disciple who sinks in the Sea of Galilee , but he was also the only disciple who walked on water.
It's so easy to criticize Peter from the comfortable confines of the boat.
I think there are two kinds of people in the world: creators and criticizers. There are people who get out of the boat and walk on water. And there are people who sit in the boat and criticize water walkers.
Here is what I think: Sinking is better than sitting.
I'd rather get wet than have a numb gluteus maximus. When everything is said and done, I think our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained risks we didn't take. We won't regret sinking. We will regret sitting. In the words of German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do.”
Anything less than getting out of the boat is spiritual voyeurism.
It is so easy to criticize water walkers from the comfortable confines of the boat. But I think the other eleven disciples were haunted by this missed opportunity. Think about it. They could have walked on water. But they chose to stay in the boat. They missed a once-in- a-lifetime opportunity because they weren't willing to take a God -ordained risk.

Motives

Do I come to God for selfish or loving reasons? Am I motivated by our simple relationship or by the reward that might come from the relationship? Would I serve Jesus if there was no heaven, no hope of eternity? Do I want Him to get me ‘out of a bind’ or to build long-term character in me?

Richard Foster in “Prayer, Finding the Hearts True Home” says, “We are a tangled mass of motives – altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter... But what I’ve come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture… This is what grace means, and not only are we saved by it we live by it as well.”

So, I keep going to Him, in honesty, presenting all my motives both good and bad. I know He desires honesty more than anything else (Psalm 51). I keep trusting that He knows me better than I know myself and it’s best to bring everything to Him like a little child trusting in his father. My own children have been known to come to me with ridiculous requests. Sometimes the self-centeredness apparent in the requests bothers me but then I think I would be even more bothered if they didn’t come to me at all. I’m their father. That’s what I’m there for. I can only imagine that this is the way it is with my Heavenly Father.

Uncertainty is an Asset

I’m enjoying reading a little book entitled Art and Fear, Observations on the Perils and Rewards of Artmaking. One of the authors tells of an interchange he had with his piano teacher where in frustration he said, “But I can hear the music so much better in my head than what comes out of my fingers.” The instructor replied, “What makes you think that ever changes?” The teacher raised an expression of self-doubt to a simple observation of reality and as he did uncertainty became an asset.

And you say, “I had the idea of this job looking so much better in my mind than it is actually turning out.” Or “My vision of this marriage was so much more fulfilling than it is revealing itself to be.” Or “I see the spiritual victories more clearly and victoriously happening in my mind’s eye than what is actually happening.” Or any number of things along those lines. Yet, if it works out exactly each time just as you’ve guessed that it will there would be no uncertainty.

And there would be no reason for faith.

Uncertainty is your asset. The knowledge that this whole thing (i.e. job, marriage, dream, vision, hope, etc…) could fall a part if you’re not careful is what keeps you praying, hoping, and persevering. Virginia Stem Owens says, “To spy out the reality hidden in appearances takes perseverance.” The appearance is that the distance between your vision and the actual execution is too great. The reality is this tension keeps you focused.

Unless you quit.