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Thursday, September 18, 2008
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I'm exhausted. Forgive me if I can't spell or can't use proper grammar. I was a zombie 2.5 hours ago after a 15+ hour workday. Now I'm beyond that... What's beyond being in a "zombie" state? What lies between "zombie" and "medically comatose"? Anyway, I was planning on sleeping, since I can barely think, keep my eyes open, etc. You get the idea... But I decided to watch Into The Wild again (thanks a lot, Emily!). It's such a great movie... I could go on and on about it. I'll try not to, and since my pillow looks like the most beautiful thing in the world right now, I doubt I'll have any trouble keeping this brief.
If you haven't seen Into The Wild (or read the book), please go rent it/download it/whatever. It's worth it. It'll get you thinking. For those who have seen it.... What did you think?
What a great movie, huh? I can't help but get sucked into it. I somehow find myself very much living out a fantasy in my head similar to his ventures and passions. Not that I would ever live all by myself in Alaska, but... I can't honestly say I've never thought about it before. There's something about that radical, extreme passion for adventure that appeals to me.
I'll cut right to the chase. I wonder to myself whether we really need to get to a point in our relationship to God (obedience to God, understanding of God, etc) where we can literally burn up our earthly things (social security cards, life savings, etc) to really get away from the things of this world that seem to effortlessly tie us down. Having my laptop in the shop this past week has really shown me both how attached I have been to it in years past, and also how freeing it is to be "rid" of it, at least for some small amount of time. I suppose a longer amount of time would produce a larger amount of pleasure for this new found liberty. I wonder how many things we have in our life that are STRICTLY temporal and downright piddly compared to such eternal things that Christ set before us. How many things do we feel are "necessary" and "essential" to life that could possibly fade away forever and never truly be missed? I mean, the guy in the movie isn't some Hollywood dream... It's a true story. A guy literally sent away his life savings, burned what identification he had, and got by on very few worldly possessions. He lived and thrived on the spirit of adventure, the courage of taking risks, and the beauty and intrinsic value of pure, unadulterated nature.
I really feel like we're playing with mud pies here, people. America and American Christian culture is, for the most part, mud pies. It's diluted faith. We walk as though we're delusional, and yet argue that we're fitting the model that Christ set. We greedily hang on to wealth, our blessed "rights", our expensive designer clothing, and our fancy gym memberships, and we don't think twice about the verses that call for us to give to the needy, serve the poor, love our enemies, show compassion, give, give, give... When confronted in church with an opportunity to give to missions or help a struggling family within the church body, we seriously consider giving, and often go home and pray about it "seriously"... on the way home, we stop by Target and buy an Ipod accessory we've wanted for a whole week. Forgive me for seeming judgmental, but aren't we riding the fence here? Where in the Bible does it say that we should be carefree and confident that we are under grace when we serve more than one god? Does it not say that MANY will say on the day of judgment, "Lord, Lord, we did all of these things in your name...." and He'll respond, "depart from me, I never knew you...". Does this not scare you? I'll tell ya what, it scares me. I scares the hell out of me.
I just look back on Jesus' disciples... Jesus called them away from their homes, their lives, their careers, everything... To do what? Follow Him around. And even after He died, resurrected, and ascended back into heaven, they STILL continued to go around preaching the gospel. They didn't get back to their lives. Their lives, and the values of this world, were completely out of their field of view. What was in focus? The finish line. The prize. The end. The eternal reward.
Mud pies.
C.S. Lewis said:
"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
I agree whole-heartedly with C.S. Lewis. And you know what else I think? I think it's gotten worse. I think it's getting progressively worse.
I wrote in a recent blog entry, "I suspect there will be many "Christians", and maybe even YOU, gnashing your teeth in a hot place, trying to remember those verses you didn't take seriously when God spoke of wealth and money, and maybe even wondering to yourself for the rest of time what the heck went wrong, and where you started down the path to eternal damnation."
I was quickly scolded by a woman I have known much of my life. "how dare you" this and "how dare you" that. I was shocked. I'm still actually pretty shocked. By quickly becoming defensive about her own faith, she not only missed the entire thrust of my blog entry, but she also indirectly shunned me from even thinking such thoughts about myself. It could almost have been phrased, "how dare you question your faith, your eternal security, etc.". I know she probably just didn't feel it was right that I would include everyone else in God's judgment, but the way I see it, if I'm guilty, there are probably a heck of a lot of other so-called Christians that are guilty too. If God calls for the deep amount of faithfulness, commitment, and monotheistic ideals that I think He does (umm, hellooo... the first commandment, people?), then I really do worry about OUR eternal future. I don't mean to judge you, or her... But as I judge myself in that respect, I feel it would be improper, fake, and downright wrong for me not to at least throw a few seeds of doubt out there so that people can feel either more or less secure than they did before. Take from it what you will. May it strengthen you and make you healthy in any respect. That is my only aim.
I realize this all seems very extreme. And perhaps I'm being extreme. But wasn't Christ pretty extreme? There were probably countless people whom Jesus talked to about "losing their lives" and "following him" that downright rejected the idea and found refuge and sanctuary in their personal faith, their culture, their church congregation, and the religious scholars that were confident enough in their ways to crucify the Son of God.
I don't have a first step for you. I don't even have a first step for myself. I can't map out a route to Alaska, and I certainly can't tell you what God's plans are for your unique life. But I can ask you this: Isn't it about time we got a little more radical with our faith? Isn't it about time we started taking some whopping huge leaps of faith with nothing below us but the "net" of God's provision and grace? Isn't it about time that we rid our lives of these idols and this junk we have come to feel is so necessary to our lives, our happiness, and our future?
May my generation, and the generations before and behind me, fall ever more passionately in love with You. May our lives be an example of total faith in the only One who is completely solid and worthy of our trust. May we take large steps and run this race with large strides, fixing our eyes on You and laying aside all of those things that so easily entangle us in this materialistic, greedy, half-hearted society and culture. May we actively and genuinely pursue your heart, and seek to obey You and bring joy to You. May this generation be cautious in it's reception of the "Christian" messages it hears, challenging everything with the Word of God and intensely and passionately interpreting the truth and discarding the lies. May we be ever mindful of the decisions we make this day, for we know it may be our last. Give us wisdom and grace, as well as the strength, to use our remaining days living for You, and You alone. May we truly be humble servants, humble believers, and humble followers. Help us to fear you. Lord, give to us *new* mercies today. In Christ's name, Amen.
3:29 PM
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