Salt Without Flavor

On June 26 I posted a blog where I just wrote out Entry #22 from Erwin McManus' book Soul Cravings. There was one paragraph in his book entry that I quickly read over but when I read it again, it spoke volumes!! I never saw it at first because he just quoted a verse I had heard over and over millions of times in my life. But then I got it. I saw what Erwin McManus was really pulling out of the verse and it changed me.

So here is that paragraph that Erwin McManus wrote:

"You are the salt of the earth," he [Jesus] told them. But here there is a different danger. When salt loses its flavor, it has no value. It's thrown out and trampled upon. I think a lot of people listening [to Jesus] understood that. In fact, they had probably experienced it. In the sight of those who were powerful, they were considered worthless. It was easier to walk on them than to waste a good bag of salt. But they themselves may have been their worst enemies. If they did not recognize their own worth, if they relinquished the uniqueness of being human, if they denied their own value, they were like salt that had lost its savor.*

He is quoting Matthew 5:13:

"You are the salt of the world. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty again? It's good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled on by people."

I'm not sure how you've interpretted this verse before; I'm not sure how I used to. But look at what Erwin McManus is pulling out of this verse:

God has put you on this planet with all your preferences, passions, hopes and dreams. Who you are is the salt. God equipped you, already, with what you need to be salt for Him. Your character, your personality, your passions...all those work together with God's purpose for His glory. When you live out who you are passionate to be, then you are being the salt of the earth that God works through.

When you remove your passions, your personality, your hopes and dreams...you are actually removing your very saltiness, your "taste"...your ability to be effective for God.

I think often times as Christians we think we need to give up our own preferences and characteristics and passions...in order to pursue, and only pursue, what we THINK is God's will. For example, isn't being a Pastor more Godly than a Office Manager? Or isn't singing in a choir at church more Godly than singing solo on secular radio? Isn't it more Godly to give up my membership on the local Friday Night Touch Football league in order to volunteer each week as an usher for the Friday night church service? Or Etc.

We have this idea that anything relating to Church or doing anything relating to the explicit titles of "God"/"Jesus"/"Christian" is more Godly than just pursuing our seemingly "worthless" passions, personality preferences, and etc.

But I love what Erwin McManus point out. When we give up the very characteristics that God Himself so specifically placed within us, we're actually THEN giving up our ability to be effective for Him in the world!!

When we try to look some way or play some part that is beside ourselves for God, perhaps we're just loosing our saltiness, however well-intentioned!

This isn't to say that God doesn't sometimes call us to step beyond ourselves and try something we're not used to, or give up a habit in order to serve Him in different ways, or etc. God does do this for sure. I'm just challenging the idea that this is ALWAYS God's way. I'm just saying the idea that anything that LOOKS more Godly because it's got "Christian" written on it, doesn't necessarily mean it actually IS more Godly!!

Be who God made you to be! Live your passions. Be yourself. Otherwise we're just salt that has lost its saltiness...good for nothing.



Think about it...


* McManus, Erwin R. Soul Cravings. Nelson Books: Nashville, TN. 2006.

Blue Like Jazz

Here are some exceprts from Donald Miller's book, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. It's a good book for those "always been a Christian" or at least "been a Christian for so long" people like myself.

On interacting with the non-Christian world:

"I like the idea of loving people just to love them, not to get them to come to church." (135)

"…it wasn’t my responsibility to change somebody, it was God’s that, my part was just to communicate love and approval." (221)

Relevant

I love the way church is evolving to be a much "cooler" place! Trendy interior designs, abstract graphic designs, retro clothes, modern music and even out-of-the-box locations! I think it's all great!! But in the middle of all these changes, I think it must be said that changing the worship style, the location or the dress does not mean we're necessarily becoming more relevant to our world. These are just tweaks of the things we usually do. We're just updating our style.

Being "relevant" is more about a disposition of knowing, of understanding, of being on the same level as another than it is about representing our decade in style.

I believe the church at large understands these days that we need to be more relevant to our world. Praise God for this awareness!!

But it seems as though (at large) the only way we're doing this is by changing the outward aspect of our church behaviors. We wear jeans. We flash strobe lights during worship. We meet in coffee shops. Some churches even go so far as to promote that we not use churchy words like "blessing" (etc.). Awesome!!!! I love all these movements toward being less "stuffy" and more "natural"!!!!!!! It's definitely a start...

But we need to recognize that just because we wear jeans now instead of suits does not mean we're now automatically attracting the world to Jesus. It doesn't mean we're automatically now being more Christ-like in our approach.

Be the change!

"It's dangerous not to evolve. If you want to ensure your extinction, cease to evolve."

Jeff Bezos

The church is not a stagnant object but a living, organic being. It's not a building or a set of rituals, it's people. People were created to change and grow, so the church needs to also. It needs to continually change in order to stay vital.

We are the church. So if we think the church needs to change, that means WE need to change. It starts with us. You and me. If we have ideas and thoughts of what "should be" in the church, it's up to us to start to develop those things. No one else is going to do it. If it's in your heart, it's because God called you to it. The very passions within you are the very things God has created you for. So if you're thinking it "should be" this or that, start by simply being it.

"We need to be the change we wish to see in the world."

Ghandi

Let me put this in local terms: We need to be the change we wish to see in the church!

We can complain all we want to that our pastor and our fellow church members aren't promoting the right kind of church atmosphere, but unless we're promoting those perspectives and passions ourselves, we're not helping either. We're just staying part of the problem too. We're just delaying the change as well.

Stepping out isn't easy. But it's a must.

Seth Godin, best selling author, marketing expert and agent of change, says, "You have to do something people can criticize! Don't play it safe."*

If we're not living what we believe because we know we'll get criticized for it, then we're just whimping out of the purpose God has for us. God never said it would be easy, He just said it would be worth it. The church needs people who are willing to be called heretics if that's what's needed. People who are willing to live what they believe!!

"Become a heretic. A heretic is someone who's willing to challenge the status quo because they so passionately believe something. They seek out a rule and break it on purpose. They keep their faith and break the rules to keep it further.

...push back against the standards...not just to be rebellious but because it's what you believe."*

Seth Godin

Jesus was a heretic to his generation. He was willing to live what He believed regardless of what the religious authorities had to say about Him.

Martin Luther was a heretic with his 95 Theses. And look at the Reformation he ultimately created! The church as we know it would not be without him!

Martin Luther King Jr. pushed back against the standards. And thank God because where would we be today without him?!

It's time we start to live what we believe instead of just wishing it were acceptable in others eyes to do so. It's time we start, humbly but very directly, not caring what others think and start showing Christ in a way that we passionately believe He wants to be portrayed!

You know, there will always be someone out there that will resound your voice. Someone out there that will be glad you spoke up. It might not come in a powerful, supportive force, but it's out there.

Our passions are needed in this world! God is waiting for us to be all He's called us to be. Step out in what's been swelling deep within your heart for so long. Live what you believe!

I know I'm defnitely being challenged to do so...

*Godin, Seth. "Tribes." Lecture. Catalyst Conference. Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Georgia. 9 October 2008. For more info on Seth Godin: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/about.html

Superstitious: Part 2

The one thing we definitely tend to get superstitious in our faith about is when things in life go wrong. And if things go wrong consecutively...oh my gosh...then we definitely read into every last detail to try figure out why!

We assume that if things go wrong, especially consecutively, then God must be trying to speak to us. "Something is probably not right in my life and I need to figure out how to fix it."

Why do we assume this?! Why is it our first reaction?!

We live healthy, prosperous lives where life is pretty good. And when we bump into a little trouble, we all of a sudden assume because life isn't easy sailing this week, like it was last week, then something must be wrong with our faith walk! God must be trying to talk to us!

Have you ever considered what this type of mentality says about people out there who live much tougher lives???? If a kid was born an orphan, got adopted by pedafiles, ran away from home only to live homeless for the rest of his life...what are we saying about him? That God is allowing that to happen to him because He's trying to speak to him about something that's wrong? OF COURSE NOT!! We would NEVER say that!! So then what's the difference?

Superstitious: Part 1

There definitely is enough talk about the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit, at least in Pentecostal circles, but I'd like to address this on another level. I think that Christians, and even Pentecostals, can get so focused on figuring God's will out and contemplating the meaning behind every event and passion and feeling in our lives that we actually begin to turn our faith into a superstition.

Sitting in Christian circles, conversations often lead to digging deeper into simple things in life. If anything happens, especially consecutive events, the conversation turns to: "What do you think it means?" Or if you communicate having a passion, the conversation turns to: "What is that passion for?" etc. etc. While these questions aren't negative in and of themselves (these are valid questions to ask in life)...I just think we ask these questions TOO OFTEN about TOO many things. Instead of just enjoying life and living in God's Hands, we try to figure EVERYTHING out, we try to find deeper meaning behind EVERY SINGLE ROCK.

We probably read meaning in many things that aren't meant to be read into. We probably give God credit for things He never intended. And we probably also, in the process, misdirect ourselves and often lead ourselves away from God's purpose, instead of toward them.

Don't you think we should leave some room in life for the Holy Spirit's spontaneity? (I'm not trying to promote the typical Penctecostal spontaneity here). I just think there are many times God just wants us to live, enjoy and be natural, to allow life to "simply be." When we do this we're actually letting go and giving God control of our circumstances and direction of our steps. Because, the truth is, when we work so hard to figure God out, what we're actually doing is trying take back control and put it in our own hands.

Jesus Freak or Just Overly Righteous?

My redefining isn't just about doing more than just going to church, it isn't just about putting my worship to action...it goes so much deeper than that. It's about re-thinking life. Re-thinking Christianity. Re-thinking the world. Re-thinking my place in this world and how all these are related.

I recently got a new look at myself, at my normal enviroment and at my faith community's norms - and suddenly - things I thought were so good, so positive, so right...all of a sudden looked odd, out of place, not nearly as productive and not nearly as helpful as I had always perceived. I stepped away from the perfect life I was living and removed myself from the normal church-going activities (while still keeping up and even digging deeper into my relationship with God) and I saw something...different.

What has become the usual Christian lifestyle in the past couple of decades, I believe can be blinding to some basic truths. And when we're only around others who think the same as us, when we're only around other Christians, we don't get true perspective on our actions and thoughts and pursuits.

When we are only around like-minded people, we become narrow-minded.

We can get so focused on our passions as Christians and on our norms as church members that we misguide ourselves into believing that intense spirituality is what the world needs and what God wants from us. But step back, get out of the norms, get away from the usuals...and you might find that what seemed so right, now seems...too much.

I think as Christians we can become overly-religious...too spiritually-minded.

If I just read this statement a couple years back, the very statement would've sounded like blashphamy to me. I would've attributed "spiritually-minded" to "thinking like Jesus" and thought, "Too Christ-minded? Never!" in reaction to the statement. And that was exactly my problem. In good intention to promote God, I had become too pious about my faith.

Look, even the Bible talks negatively about being overly-righteous!

"There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness."

Ecc. 7:15

The verse still credits the man to being just. In other words, its acknowledging the right intentions in the person. I believe when we are too spiritual it's not because we're trying to be stupid or religious or legalistic or etc. We very, very much want to serve God and put Him first in our lives!! We really are only trying to live for God!! And I understand this. I was there. I'm still learning to not be overly-righteous.

We can be very well-intented and still be wrong though. Read on:

"Do not be overly righteous,

Nor be overly wise:

Why destroy yourself?"

Ecc. 7:16

These verses make very definite and strong statements:

1. We definitely can be too spiritually-minded, too righteous.
2. Being this way is extremely negative...to the point of perishing in it, to the point of destroying oneself with it!!!

I think that's exactly what we do. We get so narrow-minded in our great intentions for God that we think being overly spiritual is how we need to overcome this world and what the world needs to see. But this very thing actually repels non-Christians from us. This very thing actually just makes us completely unaware and unable to relate to the world around us. So we perish in our own good intentions.

We defeat our own pursuits before we even begin pursuing them.

Over the past few decades we've created a Christian culture that has elevated the lifestyle of overly-spiritual as the most Godly. We've created a culture that pushes the ideas that if it's not "the very best way," if we're not being intensely perfect, if we're not thinking spiritually about all things - then we not as Christ-like as others.

But who are we really promoting likeness to? The Pharisees or Jesus?

The Pharisees were intensely righteous. Everything about them showed they were spiritually-minded in all things. They studied the law of God and held everyone to it. They were examples of perfection according to this law. Everyone around them understood this and held them in high standing for this. Everyone understood that they needed to be more like them. But everyone around them also hated them, thought they were holding standards too high to live up, saw them as hypocrites because they knew that they secretly weren't all living up to their own standards either.

Today as Christians we definitely see the negative sides to the Pharisees and don't want to be them. But put yourself in their time period. The Pharisees weren't as evil and obviously wrong as we make them out to be: They were also just church-members who were trying to please God. They were also just students of theology who deeply wanted to live for God and promote God's way in the world. They were trying to do what's right. They dedicated all their efforts and all their lives to the church. They gave their money and their time to the church. They were trying to uphold God's standard for living to keep God's people from being infiltrated with sin and evil. They were trying to be holy and promote holiness to people around them.

Now don't they sound a little more like us at church than just the obviously out-of-touch people?! If I had to be honest with myself, I've definitely looked more like a Pharisee than I've looked like Jesus, however well-intended I was trying to be. The very things I was doing to try be like Christ actually looked more like a Pharisee in its execution.

Let's look at Jesus in comparison: His feet were on the ground as opposed to being super-spiritual. He didn't try to spend all his time at the temple, and he didn't try hang out with ONLY other spiritually-minded people. He loved all people. Intensely! He led people to Himself with a friend-like attitude where He walked with them, ate at their houses, lived among them, felt their pain and enjoyed them. Jesus was willing to be seen as a heretic by the religious people of His day if that's what it took to truly love and show God to people. Jesus took the religious ideas of the day and broke them to relieve the heavy religious burden that people were suffering under.

Being like Jesus requires that we get rid of all our engrained overly-righteous perspectives and approaches to life. If we want the world to be infiltrated with Jesus, it needs to start with a reformation in US. The world will never see Jesus if we're not showing Him, if we're hiding Him behind our overly-spiritual actions, words and habits.

Is This It?

To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid "big" sins - is this passionate, wholehearted love for God?

Francois Fenelon, The Seeking Heart

Are We Missing It?

Recently I've been looking for a good book to challenge me again. I randomly just decided to buy Francis Chan's "Crazy Love" without knowing anything about the book. (I just love the Chan man!) The book is coming in the mail tomorrow so I decided to go on the book's website (http://www.crazylovebook.com/) today and actually find out what I'm getting myself into.

Just the book description itself calls my name and rings soo true to what's been going on in me, and has got me wanting to quote it:

Have you ever wondered if we're missing it?

It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe -the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs and try not to cuss.

Whether you've verbalized it yet or not ... we all know something's wrong.

Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts - it's falling in love with God. And once you've encountered His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same.

Because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

*Chan, Francis. Crazy Love: Overwelmed by a Relentless God. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2008.