"For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes." 1 Cor 11:26
Communion, or The Lord's Supper, isn't for the purpose of remembering our sins. It's for the purpose of remembering Christ, who took away our sins!
But you say, "Let a man examine himself!" Yes, Paul said that, but what was he referring to? He has just finished telling the Corinthians that when they come together for the Lord's Supper, some are eating ahead of others, letting others go hungry. And some are getting drunk. He tells them, "Don't you have your own houses to do that in?!?" This is the "unworthy manner" in which they were partaking of the Lord's Supper. This is what he was telling them to examine themselves about.
Again, the true meaning of Communion is to proclaim the Lord's death. The Lord's Supper is meant to be a celebration - or at the very least, a remembrance - of what was accomplished through the Lord's death. Jesus Himself said, "Remember ME." Not "Remember your sins." Through His death, our sins were taken away once and for all! In remembering Him, and proclaiming His death, we remember that through His blood our sins were cast into the sea of forgetfulness!
It certainly would be worth examining ourselves if while we were getting together to do this, certain people were eating all the food and others were getting drunk. That manner of remembering the Lord's death would certainly be unworthy of the majesty of all that we're gathered together to celebrate! But when we're eating a wafer or a tiny piece of bread, and a thimble-sized shot of wine or grape juice, how is it even possible for us to do what the Corinthians were doing? ;)
"God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8). This is what we are remembering in celebrating the Lord's Supper.
Here's a video I did on this:
Grace Roots Blog
Showing posts with label body of Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label body of Christ. Show all posts
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Individually members of one another
The worldwide body of Christ is a body that is made up of many very diverse and unique individuals. Each member of the body is set apart for specific functions within the body. We're not all the same, and we don't all do the same things within the body. This is such a wonderful, beautiful thing to me! No part of Christ's body is unimportant; in fact each part is equally important, even if some parts have higher or lower visibility than others. Each part is gifted in its own way - in exactly the way that God wants it to be gifted. He has set you apart as a very special and important part of His body.
The practical applications that I want to make with all of this are very general. Depending upon who you are, the following will play out in your life in its own unique ways. First off, I think it's very important that you be who you are and that you don't try to be who anyone else is! In my earlier days in the church, I would see various people operating in various spiritual gifts and I so much wanted to be able to do the things I saw them doing. But it wasn't until later on, after I had discovered some of the unique things that God has set me apart to do within His body that I finally began to understand that it's quite all right that I can't and don't do what certain other people are doing. God has given me plenty to do within His body! I finally began enjoying the ways in which He had gifted me and I quit trying to be what I wasn't.
This lesson also taught me to stop trying to get others to be who they're not, but instead to help them find out who they are and to encourage them in who they are. I think there is a lot of manipulative "ministry" going on in the church because people simply aren't content to do what they're called to do and they're also not content when other people aren't doing what they think they should be doing!
Knowing who you are and being who you are is very freeing. When I used to wish I could do what others were doing, I really felt as if I was missing out. But I came to find out that what I was really missing out on was being who I was! Knowing and being who you are is also very beneficial to the body as a whole. God Himself has made you who you are and He has not made you to be someone else. When you are who you are, and everyone else is who they are, then Christ's body works exactly as it's intended to work! "The body is a unit," says the Apostle Paul (or "the body is one"). It's One Body that is made up of countless parts that God has strategically placed throughout the Body. The placement of the parts is God's doing! The functions that you walk in all come from God! He has done well placing you exactly where you are.
You are free to be who you are and not who anyone else thinks you should be. You are free to celebrate what God is doing in your life and in the lives of others, and to not be envious of others or fearful that God has left you out in the cold, even if He's not doing the same thing(s) in your life as He's doing in theirs. You might not be called to have the same type of unique, massive evangelistic call on your life that Billy Graham has had... but Billy Graham also hasn't had the same unique call on his life that you have on your life! You may say, "I'm no Billy Graham..." but on the same token, Billy Graham is no YOU! Whatever God does through individuals is good for the Body as a whole.
I know some people who are very grace-based that don't like to hear what I'm about to say, but I think it's simply the truth. All the members of the Body of Christ, while having a super abundance of grace in regards to all that God has called them to do individually, are also limited in the respect that God hasn't enabled them to do what He hasn't called them to do! In a certain context, Paul put it this way: "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?" (1 Cor 12:29-30). Of course not! This goes along with what Paul had just finished saying: "God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Cor 12:18-20).
So don't be down on yourself, and don't feel like God has jilted you when you find you're not operating in the same gifts that others are operating in! And don't look down on others when they're not operating in the same gifts as you! "We being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another" (Rom 12:5). I love that phrase! Individually members of one another. The body doesn't work by having everyone doing the same things! It works when the individual members each do their individual things as part of the whole body.
And please don't think that the ways in which individuals are gifted and used by God within the Body are solely found listed in the Bible. Yes, Paul presents us with many of the diverse ways in which God gifts His body, but just think of all the ways in which God has made you a beneficial part of His body that aren't even listed in the scriptures! Your hobbies, your talents, your abilities, your desires, the things you do that give you and others great joy... are all a part of how God has fitted you into His wonderful worldwide body!
Remember too, we're all in this together. It's not as if it's a competition. That would be like saying that when a man is out for a walk, his heart is in competition with his legs. No! The heart and the legs and the lungs and the blood cells and the feet and the sweat glands and... every single part of the body... all work together for the good of the body as a whole, to get it where it's going!
I think we need recognize as well that some parts of the Body never "see" each other and don't even realize what the other members of the Body are doing. But yet each part affects the other parts, even in these unseen ways. I'm pretty sure my hands and fingers don't have a clue what function my liver plays in my body, but yet if my liver wasn't functioning correctly it would seriously affect my ability to sit here and type out this blog post! Christ, the Head of the Body, knows exactly what signals He's sending to each and every part of the Body for proper functioning, and He Himself makes His body work. So just relax and be who you are, and trust that the Head of the Body knows what He's doing with the rest of the Body!
A few related posts:
Let me be
Be yourself - You can't be what you're not
Why I blog - Part 1
The practical applications that I want to make with all of this are very general. Depending upon who you are, the following will play out in your life in its own unique ways. First off, I think it's very important that you be who you are and that you don't try to be who anyone else is! In my earlier days in the church, I would see various people operating in various spiritual gifts and I so much wanted to be able to do the things I saw them doing. But it wasn't until later on, after I had discovered some of the unique things that God has set me apart to do within His body that I finally began to understand that it's quite all right that I can't and don't do what certain other people are doing. God has given me plenty to do within His body! I finally began enjoying the ways in which He had gifted me and I quit trying to be what I wasn't.
This lesson also taught me to stop trying to get others to be who they're not, but instead to help them find out who they are and to encourage them in who they are. I think there is a lot of manipulative "ministry" going on in the church because people simply aren't content to do what they're called to do and they're also not content when other people aren't doing what they think they should be doing!
Knowing who you are and being who you are is very freeing. When I used to wish I could do what others were doing, I really felt as if I was missing out. But I came to find out that what I was really missing out on was being who I was! Knowing and being who you are is also very beneficial to the body as a whole. God Himself has made you who you are and He has not made you to be someone else. When you are who you are, and everyone else is who they are, then Christ's body works exactly as it's intended to work! "The body is a unit," says the Apostle Paul (or "the body is one"). It's One Body that is made up of countless parts that God has strategically placed throughout the Body. The placement of the parts is God's doing! The functions that you walk in all come from God! He has done well placing you exactly where you are.
You are free to be who you are and not who anyone else thinks you should be. You are free to celebrate what God is doing in your life and in the lives of others, and to not be envious of others or fearful that God has left you out in the cold, even if He's not doing the same thing(s) in your life as He's doing in theirs. You might not be called to have the same type of unique, massive evangelistic call on your life that Billy Graham has had... but Billy Graham also hasn't had the same unique call on his life that you have on your life! You may say, "I'm no Billy Graham..." but on the same token, Billy Graham is no YOU! Whatever God does through individuals is good for the Body as a whole.
I know some people who are very grace-based that don't like to hear what I'm about to say, but I think it's simply the truth. All the members of the Body of Christ, while having a super abundance of grace in regards to all that God has called them to do individually, are also limited in the respect that God hasn't enabled them to do what He hasn't called them to do! In a certain context, Paul put it this way: "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?" (1 Cor 12:29-30). Of course not! This goes along with what Paul had just finished saying: "God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Cor 12:18-20).
So don't be down on yourself, and don't feel like God has jilted you when you find you're not operating in the same gifts that others are operating in! And don't look down on others when they're not operating in the same gifts as you! "We being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another" (Rom 12:5). I love that phrase! Individually members of one another. The body doesn't work by having everyone doing the same things! It works when the individual members each do their individual things as part of the whole body.
And please don't think that the ways in which individuals are gifted and used by God within the Body are solely found listed in the Bible. Yes, Paul presents us with many of the diverse ways in which God gifts His body, but just think of all the ways in which God has made you a beneficial part of His body that aren't even listed in the scriptures! Your hobbies, your talents, your abilities, your desires, the things you do that give you and others great joy... are all a part of how God has fitted you into His wonderful worldwide body!
Remember too, we're all in this together. It's not as if it's a competition. That would be like saying that when a man is out for a walk, his heart is in competition with his legs. No! The heart and the legs and the lungs and the blood cells and the feet and the sweat glands and... every single part of the body... all work together for the good of the body as a whole, to get it where it's going!
I think we need recognize as well that some parts of the Body never "see" each other and don't even realize what the other members of the Body are doing. But yet each part affects the other parts, even in these unseen ways. I'm pretty sure my hands and fingers don't have a clue what function my liver plays in my body, but yet if my liver wasn't functioning correctly it would seriously affect my ability to sit here and type out this blog post! Christ, the Head of the Body, knows exactly what signals He's sending to each and every part of the Body for proper functioning, and He Himself makes His body work. So just relax and be who you are, and trust that the Head of the Body knows what He's doing with the rest of the Body!
A few related posts:
Let me be
Be yourself - You can't be what you're not
Why I blog - Part 1
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A hospital system - one organization, many parts
The hospital where I work is part of a larger organization that is made up of 3 hospitals, along with various clinics, pharmacies and other facilities and offices that are spread throughout northeast Iowa. The organization is staffed with people who do all kinds of work: physicians, nurses, secretaries, administrators, housekeepers, nurse aides, dietary workers, managers, lab assistants, maintenance workers, materials and distribution workers, and so much more. I was just reading a report that shows that as of June 30, 2008, there were 3,020 associates who worked in one way or another in the organization.
It's pretty easy to walk into a medical clinic or a hospital and give no thought to what and who actually makes the place run. But with me being a part of this organization - and being one who happens to visit a handful of the clinics and other offices daily (I'm a courier) - I have sort of an 'insiders look' at what makes it all run. In the various places I go, I interact with lots of different associates every day, of all types of different occupations, and I can see how so many seemingly little things work together to make it all happen. And the thing is, when everyone is doing their job, the whole thing generally works out very well!
But what if a person who is trained as a physical therapist were to go in and try to perform heart surgery? Or what if an office manager were to go in and attempt to cook the patients' meals? What if a courier (me) saw a nurse drawing a patient's blood and said, "here, let me take over for you!" I don't think the patient would appreciate that very much! Not to mention that that would mess up the entire system, and there would be disastrous results.
See, for our purposes here, the system works this way (in general): The patient comes in with a problem. The secretary handles the necessary paperwork. The physician works to diagnose the problem. The nurse draws the blood. I come and take the blood to the lab. The lab techs run the tests on the blood. They then send the test results to the office, where the secretary files them and gives them to the physician, and the physician gives the patient the proper care by either prescribing medicine, a medical procedure, more tests, etc, etc, all of which requires other staff within the organization to do their own jobs!
Each associate plays a very important part in the whole process. So again, with the what if's... What if the nurse drove the blood from the clinic to the hospital? Who would be there to draw blood on other patients and do all the other duties of a nurse? What if the physician had to handle all the paperwork? Who would treat the patients? What if the lab techs decided they wanted to see the patients themselves and try to diagnose their problems? Could they properly diagnose the problems? And who would run the lab tests on the blood? I'm being absurd to make an obvious point. With each person doing what they're specifically set apart to do, the organization runs well. And really this is only a very tiny glimpse into the many roles that each of the above people play.
No one in the organization is unimportant. Sure, some of the higher-paid doctors act like snobs... LOL... but yet they couldn't do what they do unless everyone else was doing what they do. And some of the lower-paid associates may feel unimportant when they compare themselves to some of the higher profile associates, but yet if you remove them from their positions, the whole thing can fall apart quickly! Each person does their part, and allows others to do their parts.
In my "One Body..." post I said that in this post I would give some practical applications to life in the Body of Christ... and really I didn't intend to go quite so far with this one particular example, so the next post will be where I had intended to go. Still, to me the hospital system example is a great example of how there are no unimportant parts in a "body" and how it's important that each person knows their part and sticks to it, and doesn't try to be what they're not!
It's pretty easy to walk into a medical clinic or a hospital and give no thought to what and who actually makes the place run. But with me being a part of this organization - and being one who happens to visit a handful of the clinics and other offices daily (I'm a courier) - I have sort of an 'insiders look' at what makes it all run. In the various places I go, I interact with lots of different associates every day, of all types of different occupations, and I can see how so many seemingly little things work together to make it all happen. And the thing is, when everyone is doing their job, the whole thing generally works out very well!
But what if a person who is trained as a physical therapist were to go in and try to perform heart surgery? Or what if an office manager were to go in and attempt to cook the patients' meals? What if a courier (me) saw a nurse drawing a patient's blood and said, "here, let me take over for you!" I don't think the patient would appreciate that very much! Not to mention that that would mess up the entire system, and there would be disastrous results.
See, for our purposes here, the system works this way (in general): The patient comes in with a problem. The secretary handles the necessary paperwork. The physician works to diagnose the problem. The nurse draws the blood. I come and take the blood to the lab. The lab techs run the tests on the blood. They then send the test results to the office, where the secretary files them and gives them to the physician, and the physician gives the patient the proper care by either prescribing medicine, a medical procedure, more tests, etc, etc, all of which requires other staff within the organization to do their own jobs!
Each associate plays a very important part in the whole process. So again, with the what if's... What if the nurse drove the blood from the clinic to the hospital? Who would be there to draw blood on other patients and do all the other duties of a nurse? What if the physician had to handle all the paperwork? Who would treat the patients? What if the lab techs decided they wanted to see the patients themselves and try to diagnose their problems? Could they properly diagnose the problems? And who would run the lab tests on the blood? I'm being absurd to make an obvious point. With each person doing what they're specifically set apart to do, the organization runs well. And really this is only a very tiny glimpse into the many roles that each of the above people play.
No one in the organization is unimportant. Sure, some of the higher-paid doctors act like snobs... LOL... but yet they couldn't do what they do unless everyone else was doing what they do. And some of the lower-paid associates may feel unimportant when they compare themselves to some of the higher profile associates, but yet if you remove them from their positions, the whole thing can fall apart quickly! Each person does their part, and allows others to do their parts.
In my "One Body..." post I said that in this post I would give some practical applications to life in the Body of Christ... and really I didn't intend to go quite so far with this one particular example, so the next post will be where I had intended to go. Still, to me the hospital system example is a great example of how there are no unimportant parts in a "body" and how it's important that each person knows their part and sticks to it, and doesn't try to be what they're not!
Friday, January 23, 2009
One Body, Many Parts, Members of One Another
I've said before that if life were college, my "major" would be God's grace and my "minor" would be "the body of Christ." I know it's probably quite a deep revelation to you that I really love discussing God's grace! Haha! However, my "minor" doesn't get enough time on this blog. I've written about it several times, but not nearly as often as it's on my heart.
The identity and the functions of the individual members of the body of Christ (you, me and everyone else in Christ), is all woven together with God's grace. Along with that, the life of each individual member is woven together with all of the other individual members to form one body. "The body is a unit," Paul says in 1 Cor 12:12 (NIV). "Though is is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." In the same chapter of a different epistle, Paul writes, "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another" (Rom 12:4-5 NKJV).
What I want to point out here is that we're one body and we're individually members of one another. Not all the "parts" are the same. We're each unique in our individual functions within Christ's body, but as one body we are individually members of one another. Christ Himself is the Head of this body, and we are all fully part of Christ's body and fully indwelled by His life that flows throughout the entire body, but we're not all the same "part" --- and that's a really good thing!
In all my talk of "grace" and our "identity in Christ," I love encouraging individuals in who they are in Christ. Each individual is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), born again of incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23), complete in Christ (Col 2:10), and so on and so on. This is all good news for us to individually digest and be rooted and grounded in! But I would be remiss if I spoke of our identity in Christ solely in terms of who we are individually. The life of Christ flows throughout the individual parts of His body and makes them all work together. Our identity in Christ is not simply who we are as individuals, but who we are as many parts that make up one body.
In both 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, Paul talks about some of the "parts" that people are in the body of Christ. He talks about those who teach and those who prophecy and those who heal and those who exhort. He talks about tongues and the interpretation of tongues. He talks about "the word of wisdom" and "the word of knowledge." He talks about so many different things that go on in the body of Christ. I don't believe his list is full and complete. In other words, your "part" in the body may or may not be mentioned by Paul. And the various things that Paul does mention may or may not have anything to do with who you are in the worldwide body of Christ. But his overall point is solid and clear: we're not all the same, yet together we form one complete body. Isn't that beautiful!
By using the human body as an illustration, Paul makes it clear that we're not all the same, but that each part is equally important!
"Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Cor 12:14-20).
I think it's absolutely wonderful that the fullness of Christ dwells in each of us, and yet we're not all the same and we don't all function in the same ways... and yet we all form one body! In the next post I'll get into practical applications of all of this.
Here are a few of my past posts that relate to all this:
We're All Important Parts of the Body of Christ (an article I wrote for a church publication)
One body, many parts - We're not all the same!
Fixed Eyes
The identity and the functions of the individual members of the body of Christ (you, me and everyone else in Christ), is all woven together with God's grace. Along with that, the life of each individual member is woven together with all of the other individual members to form one body. "The body is a unit," Paul says in 1 Cor 12:12 (NIV). "Though is is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." In the same chapter of a different epistle, Paul writes, "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another" (Rom 12:4-5 NKJV).
What I want to point out here is that we're one body and we're individually members of one another. Not all the "parts" are the same. We're each unique in our individual functions within Christ's body, but as one body we are individually members of one another. Christ Himself is the Head of this body, and we are all fully part of Christ's body and fully indwelled by His life that flows throughout the entire body, but we're not all the same "part" --- and that's a really good thing!
In all my talk of "grace" and our "identity in Christ," I love encouraging individuals in who they are in Christ. Each individual is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), born again of incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23), complete in Christ (Col 2:10), and so on and so on. This is all good news for us to individually digest and be rooted and grounded in! But I would be remiss if I spoke of our identity in Christ solely in terms of who we are individually. The life of Christ flows throughout the individual parts of His body and makes them all work together. Our identity in Christ is not simply who we are as individuals, but who we are as many parts that make up one body.
In both 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, Paul talks about some of the "parts" that people are in the body of Christ. He talks about those who teach and those who prophecy and those who heal and those who exhort. He talks about tongues and the interpretation of tongues. He talks about "the word of wisdom" and "the word of knowledge." He talks about so many different things that go on in the body of Christ. I don't believe his list is full and complete. In other words, your "part" in the body may or may not be mentioned by Paul. And the various things that Paul does mention may or may not have anything to do with who you are in the worldwide body of Christ. But his overall point is solid and clear: we're not all the same, yet together we form one complete body. Isn't that beautiful!
By using the human body as an illustration, Paul makes it clear that we're not all the same, but that each part is equally important!
"Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Cor 12:14-20).
I think it's absolutely wonderful that the fullness of Christ dwells in each of us, and yet we're not all the same and we don't all function in the same ways... and yet we all form one body! In the next post I'll get into practical applications of all of this.
Here are a few of my past posts that relate to all this:
We're All Important Parts of the Body of Christ (an article I wrote for a church publication)
One body, many parts - We're not all the same!
Fixed Eyes
Monday, July 07, 2008
One body, many parts - We're not all the same!
There's no such thing as a cookie cutter Christian. We're simply not all the same... and that's a very good thing!
Looking back to when we first got married, I remember my wife and I doing various things to try to get one another to conform to our own way of doing things. I don't think we did it intentionally. We simply were both used to doing things a certain way, and we didn't think it was right that the other would do things a different way! (Some simple examples: how to do the dishes, how to make the bed, how to fold the clothes, which way the toilet paper went, squeezing the toothpaste from the end or from the top, etc).
As we grew together, we realized that neither of us was wrong in the ways we did certain things. We simply took different approaches to different things. And slowly we took our grips off of trying to control each other in those things. Some issues are of course not so small, and they take a lot more work and compromise, not to mention the key factors of love and grace. But the point is that we can't expect each other to be exactly the same.
It's the same within the body of Christ. There seems to be a lot of "conforming" going on instead of us allowing each other to be who God has made us to be. In 1 Cor 12:12, the Apostle Paul says "the body is one" (or "the body is a unit"), but that doesn't mean every part of the body is the same! He goes on to say that while the body is a unit, "it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."
So we are one body, made up of many different parts. A little later, Paul goes on, "In fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Cor 12:18-20).
The ways in which my wife and I respond to different situations within the body... are different! Let's just say there's a disaster, such as the recent flooding that took place here in Iowa. My wife is usually quick to say something like, "I'm going to make a meal for so and so, and I'll see if anyone else wants to do the same and we'll set up a schedule to get meals delivered to the family at different times." My mind goes nowhere near thoughts like that! In those situations, my part in the body has more to do with helping clean up basements or rubble or stuff like that. Other people are really gifted at simply "being there" for people and either offering encouraging words or simply putting their arms around people and remaining quiet, or letting them simply talk about what they've been through. Some people work at trying to help people find places to stay.
Again, the point in all of this is that we're not all the same... and that's a very good thing! Each of us has a unique identity in Christ, and a unique "part" in His body. Who are you?
Looking back to when we first got married, I remember my wife and I doing various things to try to get one another to conform to our own way of doing things. I don't think we did it intentionally. We simply were both used to doing things a certain way, and we didn't think it was right that the other would do things a different way! (Some simple examples: how to do the dishes, how to make the bed, how to fold the clothes, which way the toilet paper went, squeezing the toothpaste from the end or from the top, etc).
As we grew together, we realized that neither of us was wrong in the ways we did certain things. We simply took different approaches to different things. And slowly we took our grips off of trying to control each other in those things. Some issues are of course not so small, and they take a lot more work and compromise, not to mention the key factors of love and grace. But the point is that we can't expect each other to be exactly the same.
It's the same within the body of Christ. There seems to be a lot of "conforming" going on instead of us allowing each other to be who God has made us to be. In 1 Cor 12:12, the Apostle Paul says "the body is one" (or "the body is a unit"), but that doesn't mean every part of the body is the same! He goes on to say that while the body is a unit, "it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."
So we are one body, made up of many different parts. A little later, Paul goes on, "In fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Cor 12:18-20).
The ways in which my wife and I respond to different situations within the body... are different! Let's just say there's a disaster, such as the recent flooding that took place here in Iowa. My wife is usually quick to say something like, "I'm going to make a meal for so and so, and I'll see if anyone else wants to do the same and we'll set up a schedule to get meals delivered to the family at different times." My mind goes nowhere near thoughts like that! In those situations, my part in the body has more to do with helping clean up basements or rubble or stuff like that. Other people are really gifted at simply "being there" for people and either offering encouraging words or simply putting their arms around people and remaining quiet, or letting them simply talk about what they've been through. Some people work at trying to help people find places to stay.
Again, the point in all of this is that we're not all the same... and that's a very good thing! Each of us has a unique identity in Christ, and a unique "part" in His body. Who are you?
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
One heart at a time
This is a follow up of sorts to my "Moves of God" post. And by the way, it's also my first post using Windows Live Writer. I just began trying it out, so we'll see how well it works for producing blog posts!
The title of this post actually may be somewhat misleading. The "at a time" part, that is. To explain what I mean, let me start by quoting another line from Barb's "What If" post:
What if there was no big "Move of God" but just God pursuing people – sometimes seemingly in the same location at the same time?
I think God "moves" in people individually - one heart at a time. However, at times it may just happen that He is doing a larger "movement" of the same or similar work in the lives of many individuals at the same time or in the same physical location. And at the same time that He's doing this work in larger groups of people, there may be individuals in the same place in which He is not doing the same or similar work. And that's ok!
The body of Christ is one body, and at the same time we are a bunch of individual parts who make up that one body. We may be doing different things, or sometimes doing the same things, but we still make up one body.
As one example, my wife and I are one. But yet this legitimate "movement of grace" that God has been doing in my life since the mid 90's is not the same as what He has been doing in her life during the same time. And that's ok. We're still a unit. We still communicate with each other and love one another. We are not divided.
Don't get me wrong - my wife loves the grace of God! But the way in which I've been led in sharing it and teaching it and learning more about it and living it out is different than the way she's been led. It would be so easy for each of us to think less of the other because we don't see our "missions" in life as the same as each others'. But we've realized that it's absolutely all right to let God do what He is doing in each of us individually and to celebrate it! As an example, I've grown very discontent with what I and many call the institutionalized church. I've not "been to church" (other than visiting my dad's church) for over a year. At the same time, my wife is actively involved in our mega church.
As long as she loves what she's doing, I don't have a hard time with that at all. And in the same way, she knows I love doing what I do. For some time now I've really enjoyed connecting with people online from all over the country and world. She has absolutely NO interest in it! But she knows it's my heart's desire right now and she hasn't been trying to get me to "go to church" with her. We're still one. We're still a unit.
I say all of that to say that it's the individual hearts of people that matter. If God is doing a "big" thing in a church, a city, a nation or even worldwide, that's a GREAT thing! I most certainly hope that I haven't come across as saying that I'm against "big" moves of God! But what is He doing in your heart? Is He doing something that is on a larger scale that involves lots of other people? If so, great! If not, then just be content with what He's doing in you and don't worry about what other people think of you when you're not jumping on the bandwagon!
Also, what is He doing in the individual hearts of those around you, whether it's one or two, or ten or a thousand or more? Sometimes the saying is true that we miss the forest for the trees, but maybe even more often in a great big thriving forest we miss the individual trees.
Either way, I think it's good to remember to not judge one another or look down on one another for the legitimate things that God is doing in our lives. He's got the forest as a whole and the individual trees in His hands!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Be who you are as you follow Christ
I was recently listening to a message from Bob George and he made an application from certain words of Jesus.
In short, Jesus was forecasting Peter's future. And His direction to Peter was simply "Follow Me."
But Peter didn't seem to be satisfied with just knowing his own future. What about Christ's plans for that other guy, John ("the disciple whom Jesus loved")?
"But Lord," Peter asked, "what about this man?"
The application of all this, in my own words, revolves around Jesus' words to Peter, "what is that to you?" After saying this, Jesus repeated His words to Peter, "You follow Me."
There are a lot of people in the body of Christ, and we are to build one another up, encourage one another, love one another, and so on and so forth. But one thing we need not concern ourselves with is the specific plans that Christ has for others. In other words, our concern is to follow Christ. His life is in us and He has specific plans for us. We need to be who we are in Christ and let others be who they are in Christ. We need not be envious of what Christ is doing in others and we need not lord over others what Christ is doing in us. Since we're One body, our individual lives may very well intersect with each other as we follow Christ, but again, our main concern is to follow Christ. That is, to be concerned with His life in us.
First, the passage of scripture:
17 Jesus said to him (Peter), "Feed My sheep. 18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." 19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" 21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"
22 Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."
23 Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" (John 21:17-23, emphasis mine)
In short, Jesus was forecasting Peter's future. And His direction to Peter was simply "Follow Me."
But Peter didn't seem to be satisfied with just knowing his own future. What about Christ's plans for that other guy, John ("the disciple whom Jesus loved")?
"But Lord," Peter asked, "what about this man?"
The application of all this, in my own words, revolves around Jesus' words to Peter, "what is that to you?" After saying this, Jesus repeated His words to Peter, "You follow Me."
There are a lot of people in the body of Christ, and we are to build one another up, encourage one another, love one another, and so on and so forth. But one thing we need not concern ourselves with is the specific plans that Christ has for others. In other words, our concern is to follow Christ. His life is in us and He has specific plans for us. We need to be who we are in Christ and let others be who they are in Christ. We need not be envious of what Christ is doing in others and we need not lord over others what Christ is doing in us. Since we're One body, our individual lives may very well intersect with each other as we follow Christ, but again, our main concern is to follow Christ. That is, to be concerned with His life in us.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Why I blog - Part 1
A while back in a conversation with Aida (I think via our blogs and via email), I mentioned to her that perhaps I'd post a blog about why I blog, or my purposes for blogging. Weblogs (the actual word for which the abbreviated word "blogs" has become far more common) have been around for quite a while but have gained popularity only within the past few years. I've enjoyed sharing the message of God's grace for several years now in various formats including web forums and chat rooms, radio, church settings, etc, but during the almost two years that I've been blogging, I've found this to be what I've enjoyed the most.
What I love discussing with others
I love discussing all kinds of things in life with others, although there are two things in particular that I absolutely love discussing. I think I've put it this way before: If life were college, I'd have a major and a minor. My major would be Grace/Exchanged Life and my minor would be The body of Christ.
I slowly discovered my 'minor' about two or three years ago when I was writing articles for a church publication. My main purpose was to write about grace, and in doing so I found myself being naturally drawn to thinking and writing about how we are all individual and unique members of the body of Christ, and how the body is a unit that is fit together by God's grace to form One body.
I've been discussing my 'major' with others since somewhere around 1995. Through my friend Mike, with whom I co-host Growing in Grace, and through the church he was attending (which my wife and I eventually began attending near the end of 1996), I began to be set free in my relationship with God, through His grace. Being free, I naturally wanted to share this with others! I took every opportunity to talk about this with others. Sometimes this was for the good, and sometimes, looking back, I can see that I've been quite a "Grace Pharisee" at times! (Religiously trying to shove grace down people's throats).
How I began discussing grace with others
My wife and I were first hooked up to the internet (well our computer was, anyway) somewhere around the beginning of 1997. AOL was our internet provider, and with the AOL platform came many chat rooms, including various Christian chat rooms. Before long I found myself addicted to those chat rooms, because I found them to be a wonderful outlet for me to share the message of grace. We were soon able to ditch AOL for a broadband connection (back when broadband was still new), and I was saddened to lose the AOL chat rooms but I quickly discovered Yahoo! Chat. I also found various Christian Usenet forums. While not the same as instant chat, I very much enjoyed having ongoing conversations with others in these forums.
In these chat rooms and forums, I debated, discussed, had fun, made friends... and even made "enemies." I did not debate just for the sake of debate. Like most people, I'm not a huge fan of tension - especially for the sake of tension. But I would debate and discuss, and get myself involved in deep and complex conversations, for the purpose of sharing what I believed to be truth - and for the purpose of learning from others. I considered myself to be quite the diplomat, and other people - even those who disagreed with me - would tell me the same thing. When I say "diplomat," I don't mean it in the sense that I would work to find common ground or "balance" between legalism and grace (because there is none!), but rather in the sense that I would work to build dialog between disagreeing parties rather than simply shutting out people who didn't agree with me. I made friends with homosexuals, atheists, legalists, you name it, and I had many great conversations with them.
No, it wasn't always a peachy bed of roses! Some people can be very vicious in their interactions with others, especially online! But all in all I enjoyed my decade or so of forum and chat room discussions. I still pop in to some of them from time to time to 'promote' the message of God's grace and unconditional love, but it's rare.
As I said, I've also been involved in various face to face discussions in church and small group settings over the years. Most of these discussions have been pleasant, but there have been a few times when it's gotten a little hairy.
I don't know how many millions of words I've exchanged with others over the years in discussions about grace and the exchanged life, but I do know that I've been edified and built up in the Lord through them. Opposition has caused me to dig deep into what I believe and why I believe it, and to seek God for answers, and truth. I've learned a great deal from others and I've learned a great deal through my own research that has resulted from my interactions with others.
I knew that this would be long, and I'm ultimately leading up to my own personal purposes for blogging, so I guess I'll make this into a two part post!
What I love discussing with others
I love discussing all kinds of things in life with others, although there are two things in particular that I absolutely love discussing. I think I've put it this way before: If life were college, I'd have a major and a minor. My major would be Grace/Exchanged Life and my minor would be The body of Christ.
I slowly discovered my 'minor' about two or three years ago when I was writing articles for a church publication. My main purpose was to write about grace, and in doing so I found myself being naturally drawn to thinking and writing about how we are all individual and unique members of the body of Christ, and how the body is a unit that is fit together by God's grace to form One body.
I've been discussing my 'major' with others since somewhere around 1995. Through my friend Mike, with whom I co-host Growing in Grace, and through the church he was attending (which my wife and I eventually began attending near the end of 1996), I began to be set free in my relationship with God, through His grace. Being free, I naturally wanted to share this with others! I took every opportunity to talk about this with others. Sometimes this was for the good, and sometimes, looking back, I can see that I've been quite a "Grace Pharisee" at times! (Religiously trying to shove grace down people's throats).
How I began discussing grace with others
My wife and I were first hooked up to the internet (well our computer was, anyway) somewhere around the beginning of 1997. AOL was our internet provider, and with the AOL platform came many chat rooms, including various Christian chat rooms. Before long I found myself addicted to those chat rooms, because I found them to be a wonderful outlet for me to share the message of grace. We were soon able to ditch AOL for a broadband connection (back when broadband was still new), and I was saddened to lose the AOL chat rooms but I quickly discovered Yahoo! Chat. I also found various Christian Usenet forums. While not the same as instant chat, I very much enjoyed having ongoing conversations with others in these forums.
In these chat rooms and forums, I debated, discussed, had fun, made friends... and even made "enemies." I did not debate just for the sake of debate. Like most people, I'm not a huge fan of tension - especially for the sake of tension. But I would debate and discuss, and get myself involved in deep and complex conversations, for the purpose of sharing what I believed to be truth - and for the purpose of learning from others. I considered myself to be quite the diplomat, and other people - even those who disagreed with me - would tell me the same thing. When I say "diplomat," I don't mean it in the sense that I would work to find common ground or "balance" between legalism and grace (because there is none!), but rather in the sense that I would work to build dialog between disagreeing parties rather than simply shutting out people who didn't agree with me. I made friends with homosexuals, atheists, legalists, you name it, and I had many great conversations with them.
No, it wasn't always a peachy bed of roses! Some people can be very vicious in their interactions with others, especially online! But all in all I enjoyed my decade or so of forum and chat room discussions. I still pop in to some of them from time to time to 'promote' the message of God's grace and unconditional love, but it's rare.
As I said, I've also been involved in various face to face discussions in church and small group settings over the years. Most of these discussions have been pleasant, but there have been a few times when it's gotten a little hairy.
I don't know how many millions of words I've exchanged with others over the years in discussions about grace and the exchanged life, but I do know that I've been edified and built up in the Lord through them. Opposition has caused me to dig deep into what I believe and why I believe it, and to seek God for answers, and truth. I've learned a great deal from others and I've learned a great deal through my own research that has resulted from my interactions with others.
I knew that this would be long, and I'm ultimately leading up to my own personal purposes for blogging, so I guess I'll make this into a two part post!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Too much emphasis on "church"
Once again the great comments from others (this time on my last post, What people are saying about "church") have led to another blog post!
Alvin's (Walking Church) comments, as well as Aida's follow-up, were similar to what I had in mind when I commented on Aida's Jesus is building His church post, but I lost track of my thoughts and didn't say it. Basically: I think it's true that for some people, especially today's younger generation, phoniness and dung (more specifically, that found in "church") can be smelled a mile away.
My only hope is that people who sense all of that stuff will not have been so turned off by "church" that they decide "to heck with it all," but rather that they would sort through it all, by the Holy Spirit, with a true desire to be a part of a true, living, vibrant community. Along with what Alvin says on his Blogger profile, I hope they don't throw out the gospel with the bath water.
I truly do think the internet is playing a huge part in connecting people together. Well, I don't 'think' it, I know it! I'm part of it, along with all of you. Not that a "gathering together" on the internet through websites, blogs, forums, etc, is the be-all-end-all by any means - but neither is a local gathering! In fact it's to the contrary, isn't it? (Please bear with me, as during the past year or two I've been sorting out all kinds of new thoughts. Well, some of them are new thoughts and some of them are thoughts I've had for a long time but I'm finally beginning to see them become more than thoughts).
On Alan Knox's "Assembling" blog, he wrote a post called "Gathering suggests dispersal," in which he suggests, in a nutshell, that "a gathering or an assembly, by its nature, suggests a dispersal." He goes on to say, "The people of God gather because, in general, they are not assembled - they are dispersed." Read the full post to see how Alan defines "church," as well as to get his thoughts on the purpose of the gathering, and even more importantly, the dispersal. (I should have included this as a link on my last post).
In our modern church culture we seem to focus too much on the gathering, in my opinion. The "worship," the service, the sermon, the programs. "Bring people HERE, to this place - to 'our church,' and we'll get 'em saved, delivered and healed."
The gathering is important, and it's not that a traditional church service can't include any of this! Man, I've seen a LOT of great, true, genuine LIFE happen in church services. In other words, I've seen Jesus express His life in other people and I've seen Jesus express His life through me, all within the context of a "church service" and through various "church programs."
But we place so much emphasis on the structure and timing of the gathering, and on planning what happens during the gathering, and on who's in charge during the gathering, and in finding our place to "serve" within the organized church structure, and in essentially making our gathering into a performance or a show, that I think we lose sight of true worship, true service, true community, true discipleship - all of which can and does happen outside of the context of an organized church / church structure.
The building of the church (the people of God) can be done without the building and the church (system, building, programs). It can be and is done anytime Jesus is the Life and Director and Pastor of whatever He is doing in His church!
I don't mean at all to knock legitimate fellowship and community that is taking place in traditional churches. Even 'contemporary' traditional churches. :) Jesus is alive and well wherever He is alive and well! My hope, if anything, is to point out how we seem to have become so focused and dependent upon man-made programs and systems (however well-intentioned), and we've complacently called that "church," and have lost who we truly are as a widespread body with a much larger mission than gathering, and recruiting people into our gathering, and having a great "gathering experience."
I'd say we're a body that much more resembles a starfish than a spider. :)
Alvin's (Walking Church) comments, as well as Aida's follow-up, were similar to what I had in mind when I commented on Aida's Jesus is building His church post, but I lost track of my thoughts and didn't say it. Basically: I think it's true that for some people, especially today's younger generation, phoniness and dung (more specifically, that found in "church") can be smelled a mile away.
My only hope is that people who sense all of that stuff will not have been so turned off by "church" that they decide "to heck with it all," but rather that they would sort through it all, by the Holy Spirit, with a true desire to be a part of a true, living, vibrant community. Along with what Alvin says on his Blogger profile, I hope they don't throw out the gospel with the bath water.
I truly do think the internet is playing a huge part in connecting people together. Well, I don't 'think' it, I know it! I'm part of it, along with all of you. Not that a "gathering together" on the internet through websites, blogs, forums, etc, is the be-all-end-all by any means - but neither is a local gathering! In fact it's to the contrary, isn't it? (Please bear with me, as during the past year or two I've been sorting out all kinds of new thoughts. Well, some of them are new thoughts and some of them are thoughts I've had for a long time but I'm finally beginning to see them become more than thoughts).
On Alan Knox's "Assembling" blog, he wrote a post called "Gathering suggests dispersal," in which he suggests, in a nutshell, that "a gathering or an assembly, by its nature, suggests a dispersal." He goes on to say, "The people of God gather because, in general, they are not assembled - they are dispersed." Read the full post to see how Alan defines "church," as well as to get his thoughts on the purpose of the gathering, and even more importantly, the dispersal. (I should have included this as a link on my last post).
In our modern church culture we seem to focus too much on the gathering, in my opinion. The "worship," the service, the sermon, the programs. "Bring people HERE, to this place - to 'our church,' and we'll get 'em saved, delivered and healed."
The gathering is important, and it's not that a traditional church service can't include any of this! Man, I've seen a LOT of great, true, genuine LIFE happen in church services. In other words, I've seen Jesus express His life in other people and I've seen Jesus express His life through me, all within the context of a "church service" and through various "church programs."
But we place so much emphasis on the structure and timing of the gathering, and on planning what happens during the gathering, and on who's in charge during the gathering, and in finding our place to "serve" within the organized church structure, and in essentially making our gathering into a performance or a show, that I think we lose sight of true worship, true service, true community, true discipleship - all of which can and does happen outside of the context of an organized church / church structure.
The building of the church (the people of God) can be done without the building and the church (system, building, programs). It can be and is done anytime Jesus is the Life and Director and Pastor of whatever He is doing in His church!
I don't mean at all to knock legitimate fellowship and community that is taking place in traditional churches. Even 'contemporary' traditional churches. :) Jesus is alive and well wherever He is alive and well! My hope, if anything, is to point out how we seem to have become so focused and dependent upon man-made programs and systems (however well-intentioned), and we've complacently called that "church," and have lost who we truly are as a widespread body with a much larger mission than gathering, and recruiting people into our gathering, and having a great "gathering experience."
I'd say we're a body that much more resembles a starfish than a spider. :)
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Zerox Machine
I know something about you! I may not even know you personally but I know that I know at least one thing about you.
You are unique.
Nobody else is you and you are nobody else. And that's good.
What I have to say really isn't all that deep or complex. It's just something that I know I need a reminder of now and then, and I would think most of us do too.
I am who I am. I don't need to try to be anybody else. I can sure glean a lot from others, and I can learn a lot from others, but my personality, my character, my talents and abilities, my gifts, my looks, my thoughts, my learning curve, my experiences, my ways, my tastes, my likes and dislikes, my prayer life, my Bible reading, my way of assembling with other saints, my... whatever... is uniquely mine and I don't have to be like anyone else! Sure, I want to get along with as many people as I can and I want to work well with others, and I can most certainly be flexible. But my uniqueness doesn't have to be breakable.
--------------------
The following video may or may not be your taste of music, and the lyrics may not strike you in the way they have struck me, but it's really the main reason I started this blog entry. There's so much I could say about my thoughts of Adam Ant being a musical and lyrical genius. And while I'll use the same disclaimer as I used for the Extreme video I posted the other day (that is, I definitely wouldn't look to Adam and the Ants as a source of great spiritual enlightenment!), I can truly say that once in a while I find a "message" that I can relate to in the lyrics.
There's so much I draw out of this one song. I'll just say that there have always been "copycats" in the music industry. Artists copying other styles, etc. Just think, when you turn on your radio you instantly know the "era" of the very song you are listening to, whether or not you know that particular song. Some examples, of countless many: You know if it's a song from the 50's. You have your 80's pop music and "hair metal." You have the "boy band" era. You get the point. Each song from each era is different, but yet has many of the same elements. Adam Ant didn't seem to want to ever conform to the styles of his day and he was very vocal about all of this through the use of clever sarcasm and brilliant imagery in his art
Well, the song "Zerox" (funny how it's spelled "Xerox" in the video) is right to the point throughout the whole song. Executives in the music business - you might as well "lock up your brain" because we'll just get together and collect up the ideas and simply duplicate whatever else may be hot right now. Make sure you "keep your ears to the ground" to make sure you've got the next hit record. We'll steal the chords from another hit song and make sure this song is equally as successful.
You get the idea. And you perhaps know where I'm going with this. Many in the church today seem to be more focused on having the best programs and having the sermons and worship services that attract the most people. Let's see what's "working" in other churches and start applying it in our church. It's often about "church growth. Unfortunately, it's about how the people can make the church grow, rather than how the people can help the other people grow, if you know what I mean. It's about making sure the people's brains are locked into "our" vision. The pastor and other leaders sure do have huge smiles and they sure do give "inspiring" and "convicting" sermons. But are they being real, or are they simply putting on a show to try to attract people, or even to manipulate them into conforming to their program or into being just like them?
Which leads me to my favorite line from the song:
"I may look happy, healthy and clean
A dark brown voice and a suit pristine
But behind the smile there is a Zerox Machine..."
Can't anyone just be real anymore? Can't we just meet together with no false pretenses and with no hierarchies. Can't we just be who we are, and not try to be what that other church down the street is? Can't we simply base our identities upon who we are in Christ rather than being concerned about how we appear to each other and to the community? Can't we stop trying to reproduce people to be just like us, conforming into our image, and instead work to help them walk in their own uniqueness and for the purposes for which they were created?
adam and the ants :zerox machine
Add to My Profile | More Videos
A different version of the video with better audio quality is here. (It wouldn't allow embedding).
Lock up your brain
'Cause I'm here again
I'm never bored, I steal your chords
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
Give me a line
Or a middle eight
I've got the best so I want the rest
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
Let's get together before its too late
Collect up the ideas, and duplicate
Filling out the forms, send them off tonight
And you'll be the owner of the copyright
Of the copyright, of the copyright
Time's of the essence get your ears to the ground
However else can the hits be found?
I may look happy, healthy and clean
A dark brown voice and suit pristine
But behind the smile there is a Zerox Machine
I'm a Zerox Machine...
You are unique.
Nobody else is you and you are nobody else. And that's good.
What I have to say really isn't all that deep or complex. It's just something that I know I need a reminder of now and then, and I would think most of us do too.
I am who I am. I don't need to try to be anybody else. I can sure glean a lot from others, and I can learn a lot from others, but my personality, my character, my talents and abilities, my gifts, my looks, my thoughts, my learning curve, my experiences, my ways, my tastes, my likes and dislikes, my prayer life, my Bible reading, my way of assembling with other saints, my... whatever... is uniquely mine and I don't have to be like anyone else! Sure, I want to get along with as many people as I can and I want to work well with others, and I can most certainly be flexible. But my uniqueness doesn't have to be breakable.
--------------------
The following video may or may not be your taste of music, and the lyrics may not strike you in the way they have struck me, but it's really the main reason I started this blog entry. There's so much I could say about my thoughts of Adam Ant being a musical and lyrical genius. And while I'll use the same disclaimer as I used for the Extreme video I posted the other day (that is, I definitely wouldn't look to Adam and the Ants as a source of great spiritual enlightenment!), I can truly say that once in a while I find a "message" that I can relate to in the lyrics.
There's so much I draw out of this one song. I'll just say that there have always been "copycats" in the music industry. Artists copying other styles, etc. Just think, when you turn on your radio you instantly know the "era" of the very song you are listening to, whether or not you know that particular song. Some examples, of countless many: You know if it's a song from the 50's. You have your 80's pop music and "hair metal." You have the "boy band" era. You get the point. Each song from each era is different, but yet has many of the same elements. Adam Ant didn't seem to want to ever conform to the styles of his day and he was very vocal about all of this through the use of clever sarcasm and brilliant imagery in his art
Well, the song "Zerox" (funny how it's spelled "Xerox" in the video) is right to the point throughout the whole song. Executives in the music business - you might as well "lock up your brain" because we'll just get together and collect up the ideas and simply duplicate whatever else may be hot right now. Make sure you "keep your ears to the ground" to make sure you've got the next hit record. We'll steal the chords from another hit song and make sure this song is equally as successful.
You get the idea. And you perhaps know where I'm going with this. Many in the church today seem to be more focused on having the best programs and having the sermons and worship services that attract the most people. Let's see what's "working" in other churches and start applying it in our church. It's often about "church growth. Unfortunately, it's about how the people can make the church grow, rather than how the people can help the other people grow, if you know what I mean. It's about making sure the people's brains are locked into "our" vision. The pastor and other leaders sure do have huge smiles and they sure do give "inspiring" and "convicting" sermons. But are they being real, or are they simply putting on a show to try to attract people, or even to manipulate them into conforming to their program or into being just like them?
Which leads me to my favorite line from the song:
"I may look happy, healthy and clean
A dark brown voice and a suit pristine
But behind the smile there is a Zerox Machine..."
Can't anyone just be real anymore? Can't we just meet together with no false pretenses and with no hierarchies. Can't we just be who we are, and not try to be what that other church down the street is? Can't we simply base our identities upon who we are in Christ rather than being concerned about how we appear to each other and to the community? Can't we stop trying to reproduce people to be just like us, conforming into our image, and instead work to help them walk in their own uniqueness and for the purposes for which they were created?
adam and the ants :zerox machine
Add to My Profile | More Videos
A different version of the video with better audio quality is here. (It wouldn't allow embedding).
Lock up your brain
'Cause I'm here again
I'm never bored, I steal your chords
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
Give me a line
Or a middle eight
I've got the best so I want the rest
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
Let's get together before its too late
Collect up the ideas, and duplicate
Filling out the forms, send them off tonight
And you'll be the owner of the copyright
Of the copyright, of the copyright
Time's of the essence get your ears to the ground
However else can the hits be found?
I may look happy, healthy and clean
A dark brown voice and suit pristine
But behind the smile there is a Zerox Machine
I'm a Zerox Machine...
Thursday, February 01, 2007
That I may know Him...
A friend and I are teaching a class at our church entitled "Who Are You - Identity Revealed."
Someone asked me the other day if this class is similar to the "Purpose Driven Life." I really hadn't thought of it that way. The reason for that is... it has nothing to do with being driven in this life by purpose. :)
As you can probably tell by the title, our class is about God's grace, and our identity in Christ, which are inseparable. Knowing our identity is crucial to what we "do" in this life. I know... I know... it's true. So many of us looooong for purpose. We think we'll be fulfilled if we can find our purpose in this life, and then live out our purpose. And it's true that God has given each of us "purpose." Each 'member' of the body of Christ has a purpose within the body (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12).
But what if you're going along your day one day, and you don't really feel like you're living out the purpose that you feel that God's given you within the Body? What if this lasts for more than a day? A week? A year? Or more???? Have you ceased to be a member of the Body of Christ? Of course not! Has God forgotten about you? NOOOO!!
Is it possible that you can live your life in Christ without regards to PURPOSE?
I believe so.
And that's because I believe the purpose of our lives are not to have purpose... but to know God.
Again... we all have purpose within the Body. But I don't believe that our day to day lives are meant to be driven by purpose.
Can't we just...
KNOW Him?
In your relationships with people... Do you feel you have to have purpose at every moment? Can't you just be friends, and know each other, and love each other - with no particular agenda?
True... in your relationships you like to DO things with people. Many times there is a particular purpose for you to spend time together. But one of the great things about true, close friends, is that they often don't need to find a purpose in everything they do. Maybe you've just gotten old. I don't mean your age, but your way of thinking. In order to be "mature," you've got to have a reason (a purpose) for everything you do. But think back to your childhood friendships. You didn't always get together because you had some wonderful purpose in mind for your time together.
Ok, I think I've made my point. :)
I think I have a special "part" within the Body of Christ. I think we all do (see previously mentioned scriptures). He lives and moves in us, and we have our entire being in Him... and sometimes that means an obvious expression and movement of the 'body part' that we are. As He works in us, our "purpose" is fulfilled.
But yet the essence of our lives is not purpose. The essence of our lives is that we know Him. The apostle Paul had counted all things as LOSS, including his Jewish heritage and status, his godly zeal, his righteousness, and I think even his own perceived purpose in this life... "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings..." (Phil 3:10).
When defining Eternal Life, Jesus didn't speak of us finding our "purpose in life." He said, while praying to the Father, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
We all have desires... we long for purpose in this life. I don't think there's anything wrong with seeking God to fulfill His purposes in us. But there is something so much greater... something that in our day to day life supersedes, and is so much more important that purpose. It's "that I may know Him."
Again, the question...
Can't we just KNOW Him???
Someone asked me the other day if this class is similar to the "Purpose Driven Life." I really hadn't thought of it that way. The reason for that is... it has nothing to do with being driven in this life by purpose. :)
As you can probably tell by the title, our class is about God's grace, and our identity in Christ, which are inseparable. Knowing our identity is crucial to what we "do" in this life. I know... I know... it's true. So many of us looooong for purpose. We think we'll be fulfilled if we can find our purpose in this life, and then live out our purpose. And it's true that God has given each of us "purpose." Each 'member' of the body of Christ has a purpose within the body (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12).
But what if you're going along your day one day, and you don't really feel like you're living out the purpose that you feel that God's given you within the Body? What if this lasts for more than a day? A week? A year? Or more???? Have you ceased to be a member of the Body of Christ? Of course not! Has God forgotten about you? NOOOO!!
Is it possible that you can live your life in Christ without regards to PURPOSE?
I believe so.
And that's because I believe the purpose of our lives are not to have purpose... but to know God.
Again... we all have purpose within the Body. But I don't believe that our day to day lives are meant to be driven by purpose.
Can't we just...
KNOW Him?
In your relationships with people... Do you feel you have to have purpose at every moment? Can't you just be friends, and know each other, and love each other - with no particular agenda?
True... in your relationships you like to DO things with people. Many times there is a particular purpose for you to spend time together. But one of the great things about true, close friends, is that they often don't need to find a purpose in everything they do. Maybe you've just gotten old. I don't mean your age, but your way of thinking. In order to be "mature," you've got to have a reason (a purpose) for everything you do. But think back to your childhood friendships. You didn't always get together because you had some wonderful purpose in mind for your time together.
Ok, I think I've made my point. :)
I think I have a special "part" within the Body of Christ. I think we all do (see previously mentioned scriptures). He lives and moves in us, and we have our entire being in Him... and sometimes that means an obvious expression and movement of the 'body part' that we are. As He works in us, our "purpose" is fulfilled.
But yet the essence of our lives is not purpose. The essence of our lives is that we know Him. The apostle Paul had counted all things as LOSS, including his Jewish heritage and status, his godly zeal, his righteousness, and I think even his own perceived purpose in this life... "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings..." (Phil 3:10).
When defining Eternal Life, Jesus didn't speak of us finding our "purpose in life." He said, while praying to the Father, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
We all have desires... we long for purpose in this life. I don't think there's anything wrong with seeking God to fulfill His purposes in us. But there is something so much greater... something that in our day to day life supersedes, and is so much more important that purpose. It's "that I may know Him."
Again, the question...
Can't we just KNOW Him???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)