Jesus pt. 9- I Bet He Likes Tinker Toys

Col. 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

We are all sort of like tinker toys. Made up of the same parts – body, relationships, nationality, temperament, personality, emotions, experiences, abilities, culture, intellect, history – yet combined into endlessly delightful combinations. All so alike. All so uniquely different. And Jesus snaps us together until all the pieces are in place and we become His image bearers here, in whatever context He has chosen to place us. That is something of the process of creation. Him making us.

Then there is the process of sanctification. Him making us like Himself. And whew, what a process!

Sometimes, He looks at who we are and says, “Just a tweak here. Just a little adjustment there. Look. Good as new.” And then sometimes, in some seasons of life, He completely breaks us apart… as if He is saying, “This thing is so broken, we need to start all over again, looking at and repairing each piece.”

Those seasons of shattered-ness and reconstruction are fine on the front end, because we live in ignorant bliss of just how painful it can be to get taken apart. And we honestly think, who and how we are is just fine. Surely this will be relatively painless and quick. And those seasons are fine on the back-end, because Jesus shows us the new us, the one more whole, more healthy and more in His image. And we are so ridiculously thankful for His work in our lives that we would do anything to get more of Him, to get closer to Him, to hear His voice speak. Even let Him break us apart and reconstruct us from the ground up.

It is that unbelievably crazy, terrifying time in the middle, when everything stops as all the parts are disassembled and laying in a mess on the floor, when He completely undoes us and we aren’t sure what will become of us after it is all over… It is so anxiety-inducing, so painful in fact, most people avoid it.

Joining Him in this process, of taking our life apart, piece by piece and looking at it through the filter of His love, His word and seeing clearly the crookedness that sin has introduced into the design is not for the faint of heart. But to get to the most beautiful creation, sometimes we have to go through a from-the-ground-up restoration/reconstruction project. Maybe even more than one.

Jesus was a carpenter, from a family of carpenters. I think He loves making and building and re-building and repairing stuff. People. Hearts. Lives. And it is such a joy to watch Him at work. Even when it is a mystery what exactly it is He is building.

How To Awaken A Heart (Heart Stuff pt. 6)

Why is it that some people seem to go places with God that the rest of us don’t?

Some people seem to know Jesus, love Him, hear Him, enjoy Him, have conformed their hearts and lives to His likeness and talk about Him in a way that is so different from ‘normal’ that we could almost describe them as ‘abnormal’. It is as if their heart has been turned on. Awakened. Spiritually, they are using gears most of us don’t have, painting in colors the rest of us haven’t seen. They don’t chase the same things, make the same choices or walk the same predictable paths of career, marriage, family and stuff acquisition as the rest of our culture. They seem to have a freedom from expectations, from their past, from peer pressure, from the call of conformity, from the fear of whatever and from the things that seem to control most.

In my experience, there is usually a gentleness about them, a grace to their words, a beauty on their face, (even when their face isn’t what the world would define as beautiful) and a contagious calmness in their presence. It is interesting to me how many of the typical measures of spiritual success that we use to rank each other isn’t on that list…

I’ve met a number of these people on the mission field and in various ministry venues. I’ve met some in churches, although they usually seem to be in the minority, somewhere off the beaten path. Maybe that is because the life they are living is so far off the beaten path, they aren’t interested in the same things as those who are beating the path, even the church path.

When I meet these people, I try to get some of their time. To have coffee with them, talk about things and ask them questions about how they got to this deep place with God. And I find my heart awakens a bit. It is almost as if she (and my heart is definitely a she) hears the cry of their heart and says, “Hey, I want to beat like THAT!”

I love university students and those in their early 20′s. I’ve worked with them in some capacity now for over 20 years. And I’m  wondering why it seems the hearts of some young people awaken and the hearts of others sleep on. I know that ultimately God is the one who sets the alarm and tells our hearts to rise and shine, but still. We do have some role to play in this, don’t we? So I’m asking – how can I be a facilitator of those moments and movements of God in the lives of those in my circles?

And if I’m honest, I’m also asking how can I get my own heart out of bed and into the game.

Cultural Lies – An Awkward Moment

(Part 11 of the Culture series)

I remember sitting in my church with a European friend when my pastor said, “I believe America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth.” Wow. What an awkward moment for me. What to do with that? Not just the cultural insensitivity that was behind such a bold statement, made before an internationally diverse congregation, but that a majority of Americans who heard him say it were nodding their heads in agreement. Granted, there was context to what he was trying to say that doesn’t communicate well in this blog, but it was quite a Freudian slip, revealing a common cultural lie we Americans often fall under. “We are God’s favorites.”

There are a lot of places this lie comes from…the tremendous blessings we’ve been given monetarily, materially, historically, geographically, politically, etc. We were founded by people seeking religious freedoms that couldn’t be found in Europe, so a natural default of the founding fathers was to link our blessings to God’s favor.

Why is this so dangerous?

It’s not Biblical. God doesn’t play favorites. If He did, I guess His favorite would be the nation of Israel. But even a cursory reading of the Bible tells me that God spanks His kids,  (Heb. 12:7) so I’d be really careful about claiming that title.

It hampers us spiritually, like how an injury hampers a runner. How can we grow spiritually when our hearts are broken by a lie that distorts God’s character and our identity in Christ?  A house built on a shaky foundation will soon lean over and eventually crash.

It’s insulting. I don’t even have to elaborate.

It’s not that we shouldn’t be grateful. Oh my goodness, Americans have so much to be grateful for!!! (Just in case you are in doubt, I’m proud to be an American. My father was career military – I know just how blessed we are and just how much our freedom has cost.) But when we move beyond gratitude for His grace to the belief that we’ve somehow earned it, that God loves us and tolerates others until they become more like us, we move into dangerous territory indeed.

Cultural Lies – American Version

(Part 9 of the Culture series)

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Following up on the National Soul series (here) and (here)- the idea that every culture has particular characteristics that by themselves are neutral – neither good nor bad, just distinguishing – I’m exploring the idea that each culture also operates under certain lies. From a Christian perspective (and that is the context I’m writing from…) these are the things that make it more difficult for insiders in a particular culture to see God, come to know Him or come to know Him better. It is an interesting exercise to look around and figure out what some of these embedded lies are.

 The people who live in a particular culture hardly notice them either. Ask a fish to describe what it’s like to live in water and they’ll say, “How else should a fish live?” But a watery environment would kill a bird. Without intentional effort on our part, it is almost impossible to view our cultural distinctives through someone else’s eyes. The highly social nature of

A humorous glimpse of the British national soul, as seen going through customs. Evidently, there are the British and the rest of the world... By the way, can you find me in this photo?

African culture can be a great strength to a society living in such harsh climates. It is suffocating to a Westerner who values individuality. The directness of the Germans, seen by them as honesty, can be interpreted as rudeness to a southerner. And the over the top politeness of the same southerner, seen by them as having good manners, can be viewed by the German as shallowness. These distinctions can be strengths under the right circumstances and devastating weaknesses under others.

For Americans, I think one of our lies is “It’s all about me!” Because ours is a service related culture, we are used to being catered to and taken care of. Waiters bring us what we want, when we want it. Stores with terrible customer service go out of business. We grumble when we can’t find a good parking place. We look for churches that “meet our needs” and leave those that don’t offer the right kids programming, type of worship music or nice facilities. When we bring this attitude to God, we fit Him into our mold and expect Him to center Himself around us and our needs. We don’t adapt ourselves to Him. We adapt Him to ourselves. This attitude is incredibly inhibiting if one is pursuing true spiritual depth.

Another American lie is that “I can do it myself.” We are not only individualistic, we are ruggedly individualistic. We have an ethic that tells us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, work harder and accomplish more. We idealize the self-made men and women who work themselves to the top. It is not a far stretch to see how we translate this to our relationship with God. We love to work for Him, think He owes us something because of our efforts and have no real concept of being saved by grace. There’s this lie in the back of our minds that we earned it. And if we earned it, we nullify the cross. No cross, no Christianity. Red flags should be flying up all over the place.

Both of these lies are so inherent in our culture that we can barely see it – till we take a step back and look at ourselves with fresh eyes. For instance, last year I went to the Catalyst Conference here in Atlanta with a group of Norwegian church planters. Their perspective on American Christianity was priceless. One comment? There were so many Mac giveaways to hawk various Christian services and ministries that one said, “It appears to me that ministry here has something to do with Apple.” Not Jesus. Not the Bible. But a commercial product. Hmmmm….

Any thoughts out there on this idea?

The National Soul – European Version

(Part 8 of the Culture series)

If you’ve ever read the Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat Pray Love, she describes an interesting idea in the Eat/Italy section. What if every city has a word? And what if every person also has a word.  It is whatever word that is humming and dancing around in your soul, that summarizes something very deep and true about yourself. If your word matches the word of the city you live in, then you feel at home.

For instance, New York’s word might be “Achievement”. If that is also your word, then you will love living in New York. Washington D.C.? Probably, “Power.” Amsterdam? “Tolerance.” Los Angeles? “Fame.” Hogwarts? “Magic.” What’s your word? Does it match the city where you live?

I think that whatever your word is provides a window to whatever is pressed on your national soul.

It is such an interesting conversation starter to ask people what they think their word is, or what they think the word of their home town is. I have learned so much from people over the years by asking this very question.

In last week’s post I theorized that individual responsibility is one of the things pressed on the American soul.

What is pressed on the European soul? Before wading into these waters, I admit I’m not a European. If I offend or am wrong, it is not intentional. If some of the readers from there want to venture their own opinions, feel free to do so in the comments section below.

I think the European word is something in the family of security, safety and/or tradition. And why not? Europe has an incredibly long tradition of how things have always been done and they have a long and vivid memory of pain when things go wrong. It’s why, when reading the story from last weeks blog of the servant who ended up with no minas, Europeans respond by saying, “No one should be allowed to fall very far. Even if they did it to themselves.” And why Americans are usually ok with someone reaping whatever it is they have sown. It reveals a bit more of a collective mindset than individually-minded Americans have.

You can see a conflict brewing between the American and European soul then, can’t you? One values risk and reward, the other safety and security. One is willing to lose something old in order to gain something new. The other is risk-averse. One sees the world as a place of opportunity, where things can be won, changed or gained, so “full-speed ahead”. The other sees the world as a place of potential danger where things can be lost or destroyed, so “proceed with caution”. One says, “I need to take care of myself.” The other says, “We take care of each other.”

Neither side is right or wrong – just different perspectives based on historical and cultural events.

In this discussion, I am not taking sides and hopefully you can’t discern my personal opinion from this entry. (I suspect it would surprise both sides.) Instead, I am interested in what this subtle cultural divide means for communicating the gospel across this cultural barrier.

I’m not sure what all the implications are, but I do know that awareness is an important thing for anyone who wants to jump cultural barriers. If the gospel penetrates our lives at the heart/soul level, then what is already there is an important component to how we receive it. Our national soul is a part of who we are and can be either a bridge or barrier to the gospel. It is why an American can read the story of the servants (see previous blog) and how they managed what they were given and get one point from it, but a European can read the same story and see something very different.

The message of the gospel never changes between culture, language, time period, etc. But the subtleties of how we communicate it must take on appropriate shades of gray, or the message will get lost in the blunt force trauma of cultural mis-steps.

The National Soul – American version

(Pt 7 in the Culture series)

During my first week of living in Germany, I was in a Bible discussion group, where we opened up the word and kicked around ideas about a particular text.  This week our passage was Luke 19:11-27  which starts this way:

” ‘A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ “

What follows is an account of how the different servants managed differently what God had given them. Some were given more and some were given less. Some did well and some did poorly. One servant came and said that he was afraid, so he hid the money, refusing to invest it. The master was furious and ordered the servants to take away his money and give it to the one who had managed it well.

The master concluded the story by saying, “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.”

The discussion among the German students was fascinating and I heard a perspective I’ve NEVER heard from an American. They wanted to know why the man who was given much didn’t share what he had with those who didn’t.

That question had never, ever occurred to me, yet it was the first thought of several Europeans. Why?

Because individual responsibility has been pressed on the American soul. America was founded by people who wanted to get away from “how it has always been done”, and strike out on their own. They were looking for freedom to live and believe how they chose, to create the lives they wanted, not the one they were handed by a government, culture, family, society, church or economics.

But with freedom comes responsibility. If you are going to strike out on your own into the wilderness, you had better understand that while you can reap tremendous blessings, things can also go horribly wrong in a heartbeat. If you are going to play the game, you had better understand that you just might lose. It’s a historically American idea that you should be prepared to lie down in whatever bed you make.

So when Americans read a story like the one found in Luke, we read it through a lens of individual responsibility. From this perspective, it’s easy to see that you reap what you sow. Good choices = reward. Bad choices = punishment. And you don’t punish the successful person by making them carry the bad choices of the unsuccessful one.

And apparently when a European reads this story, they see it through different lenses.

What is it that’s pressed on the soul of a European? Stay tuned for an American’s opinion on it in the next blog.

The National Soul – What is it?

(Part 6 of the Culture Series)

(Just an idea I’m kicking around.)

It is impossible to generalize and stereotype when describing Americans. Not that people haven’t tried (Europeans, I’m good-naturedly talking to you.) But how can you? There are 300 million of us from all corners of the globe, with countless people groups, languages and subcultures spread across a geographic region of 8 time zones and over 3000 miles, not including Hawaii? “It’s impossible to say “All Americans are… anything.” We are a people known for our individuality, non-conformity and diversity. And there are just so dang many of us.

BUT…each nationality has some things imprinted on their souls. These are the characteristics that make each culture unique, that are a default position we slide to. They are one of the things that unite a culture and separate it from others. You see it when someone is confronted with something different, a value judgement, a political conversation, etc. You feel it when traveling overseas and meet another person from the same area as you and you can say, “You know what I mean?”. And you know they actually do.  Or when you meet someone from another culture and just cannot understand how they can be that way. Most things pressed on the national soul involve something that ultimately is a matter of preference, but is often confused with an absolute right and wrong. Until you travel that is, and realize that millions of people live everyday with a different opinion and somehow manage to make their society work just fine.

Examples to flesh this idea out:

Some people, when confronted with pineapple on their pizza say, “That’s just wrong on so many levels.” Some people can’t conceive of soft drinks with no ice, eating with no utensils or in the car while driving. Some people think no coffee in the morning or afternoon is wrong, wrong, wrong. (Again, Europeans, I’m good-naturedly talking to you:) Some people think big government is wrong, or that small government is wrong. Some people think too much wealth is wrong, while others reject being forced to share what they’ve earned. Some react with heartfelt emotion to different music styles in worship or on the radio, different food or traffic rules because they are just so sure it is wrong. What is it that makes you say, “That’s just wrong.”? (Das geht gar nicht.) That question can give you an idea of what is pressed on your national soul.

It’s an idea I’d like to explore in a blog or two.

Echoes of Your Life

Recently I was paid a great, great honor. This fall I went to the Connexxion Zoom Conference in Germany. It’s where the past and present staff downloaded much of what they’ve learned over the last 10 years of successful work among post-modern European university students. My husband and I worked with them for three of the happiest years of our lives. Anja, a ministry leader in Braunschweig, got up to share a mentoring/communication principle that she uses in her personal ministry – and it was one she learned from me! (If you are familiar with my teaching at all, you’ve heard me teach the train – how we lay track for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives.)

Since most of what I teach also comes from those who taught me, and since it isn’t always easy to actually see how God uses our words in the lives of others, it was really encouraging for me to see an echo of my life bouncing around out there.