The Faith Life Should Look Crazy!

In our culture, nobody wants to look crazy. “Crazy” people tend to stick out because what they are doing makes no sense. Obviously, if you asked them, they would say that what they are doing has a very reasonable purpose, but when you hear the purpose you generally roll your eyes and shake your head (at least on the inside).
 
For several years I lived in Los Angeles, a safe haven for crazies.
I worked at a Starbucks next to a busy freeway, and underneath that freeway some of the most bizarre people I have ever seen would hangout there. One lady in particular (we called her “Dancing Lady”), used to dance on one side of the street from one stoplight to the next, passing under the freeway, cross the street at the light, dance back under the freeway to the same stoplight she just left, and cross the street only to start all over again. She would do this all day! None of us, however, had the guts to ask her why.
 
Another guy, we called “Four Guy,” used to stand underneath the same freeway holding up four fingers while staring at oncoming traffic. We never figured out why the number four was so important to him, but when “Dancing Lady” and he were “workin’ it” on the same day, it was quite interesting.
 
I bring up these stories because I truly believe that many Christians are afraid to authentically live like Christ calls us to live because we know we will look crazy to others. Think about itŠhow many people walked away from Jesus during his ministry on the earth because his call was too “crazy?” When you read the Gospels, it is shocking how many times people heard what it meant to follow Jesus, but when they saw the cost they knew it was too great. To stick with the theme,
it was crazy!
 
Probably more important, however, is that they didn¹t see what Christ offered as more valuable than what they could get out of this world; the value didn¹t outweigh the cost. When they looked at their money, possessions, families, pursuits, desires, and goals, they loved what this world had to offer, and therefore the thought of foregoing them was stupid.
 
To people then and now, Jesus proclaims: 
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matt. 13:44-46).
 
Why did he say this? Because if you don¹t believe that following Jesus how he asks you to follow him is worth it, eventually you too will walk away like so many have before you. Following Jesus is the freest and most wonderful gift ever (Eph. 2:8-9), but it the freest gift that will cost you everything (Mark 8:35; Luke 14:25-35)! It is free because you could never earn this relationship with Jesus, but costly because following him will require you to walk the same grueling and “crazy” path that he did (Matt. 10:24-25; Heb. 13:12-24; 1 John 2:6).

The Impossibility of “One Anothering” Yourself

We would probably all say that we desire to honor God. Who would deny this? But in reality, we have deceived ourselves into thinking that we can actually live a life that honors God apart from being in continual relationships with the body of Christ.

Many would say that this is an overstatement. After all, every one of us has relationships. But I’m talking about something deeper than getting together with people for dinner once every few weeks. This level of interaction may be a blessing to us, but it simply does not fulfill what the Bible calls us to. Really, this type of interaction doesn’t give us anything more than a progress report. But if we were to develop deep, regular relationships with other people, then we would have opportunities to practice the “one anothers” of Scripture.

We run into this problem because we exalt independence.
As a culture we esteem independence—it has become one of our main measures of success. But our exaltation of independence actually hinders the body of Christ from functioning in the way that God desires. 

Do you realize that it is impossible to live a life that honors God on your own? In order for us to fulfill the commands of Christ we must be in true relationship with other believers. We need to reject our culture’s exaltation of independence and finally humble ourselves and express our need for the body.

It comes down to this: you cannot “one another” yourself. Yet the
Bible is full of commands to do various things for one another. The inescapable solution to the dilemma is this: we need each other.
In order to be and do what God has called us to be and do, we must renounce individuality and embrace community. 

You can start this process in two ways: (1) Identify someone who has a need and do what you can to help them out. (2) Identify some of your own needs or weaknesses and bring other people into the process. Our arrogance is the only complicating factor. When we actually begin doing this, we will find that this is exactly how we were mean to live.

OUR NEIGHBOR

Yesterday our sweet neighbor, Mr. Truman, died. He was the
man who donated the organ to the church. Through some well orchestrated (by God) circumstances, we were able to be there
when he died.

As he was reclining in his chair, he told us that he wasn’t afraid to die…that he didn’t really know what came next. The Holy Spirit was totally working through Lance and he explained a few key points with Mr. Truman. Mr. Truman said “I don’t know what you know.” Lance and I continued to share a few more things, and Mr. Truman said he wanted Christ, too. So we prayed with him and he told Lance, “I’m in” and gave a thumbs up. A little over an hour later, he died.

I don’t know how much he understood, but he seemed very willing to
listen and seemed to want to receive. I truly hope we will see him
in heaven.

I don’t quite know how to explain it, but it was such a privelege to be there when that happened, and when he took his last breath. A huge part of what allowed us to be part of that, was that we had developed a relationship with him in which he trusted us and knew we were there to care for him. He did ask, again, why we were taking care of him, which opened the door.

I know it may seem that to reach our neighbors we have to sacrifice our own free time and resources, but the blessing of being there with him and helping him to accept Jesus before he died was an experience that far outweighed any sacrifice of time that we have given to him in the past. I feel so honored and blessed and priveledged to have been able to be there.

I saw another neighbor late that evening and told her he had
died, and she said to me, “Your family is such a blessing to this neighborhood”. She is not a Christian, but she sees that we are trying to help. And that is part of the hope, that they may see our good deeds and praise the father in heaven!!

DON QUIXOTE CHRISTIANS

Today I read the following by Russell Moore from a sermon he preached SERMON
 
“Satan does not mind family values–as long as what you ultimately value is the family. Satan does not mind social justice–as long as you see justice as most importantly social. Satan does not tremble at a Christian worldview. He will let you have a Christian worldview as long as your ultimate goal is viewing the world.”
 
How true!!! Satan is so crafty in regards to masking the purpose and plan of God, and sadly we Christians become willing accomplices to doing nothing in regards to advancing his kingdom. We get sold on “worthy” issues like family values or social justice, and soon these means (as well intentioned as we might be) become the end. Without meaning to, we become Don Quixote charging windmills that have nothing to do with the gospel.

THE LARGER STORY OF GOD

Lately, I have been thinking a lot through the big picture the Bible paints of God and his continuing story of redemption. The Bible paints it all the way from eternity past to eternity future, but the thing it never misses is that from front to back it is about God and God alone.
 
Sadly, much of our view of God’s redemptive plan is consumed in painting ourselves as the main character of the story. This is exactly what happened to Lucifer, and to Adam and Eve; they fell in love with themselves and forgot the main character. And from those two distinct moments in time, a new story was begun, not about life, but now about death.
 
As I look around this little part of the world in which I live everyday,
I can see these two distinct stories happening all of the time. Some people are clearly about God’s story! Not really in perfection, but in practice you can see it in how they spend their time and money, treat their spouses and kids, treat their day at work, and on and on. They wake up in the morning with a desire and plea to know God more, and the script for his story is engraved on their mind (God’s Word). With every aspect of their life it reflects the presence of the Spirit of God in their life through distinct works that build God’s Kingdom, his church; an everlasting kingdom.
 
Some, even some who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ, have only one script on their mind, “MY SCRIPT!” They are building a kingdom, but the kingdom they are building is their own; the mark of those who are pursuing the wrong story. They are content when everything is falling in line to their script, but agitated and frustrated when anyone dares to break free from the script and ad lib. The word I have noticed that this person uses most is “busy.” That is code for “it doesn’t help me build my kingdom” so I don’t have time. The unfortunate reality for this person is that their kingdom is passing away. Here today…gone tomorrow.