i peaked in high school ~m

Revelation 12:11 – They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death

rust or rigor mortis

I went out by myself this morning and ran through some old tennis drills, because what else is there to do on a sunny and 70 degree morning during quarantine, right? I always prepare a small speech in my mind explaining what I’m doing or why I’m so bad when I go hit the ball by myself, in case someone shows up and sees me embarass myself. You know, the normal stuff like “yeah honestly it’s been years since I actually played,” or “let’s be real I peaked in high school.” After sending the third ball sailing over the fence in the span of 15 minutes, I thought to myself wow, I really did peak in high school. In the same breath of thought I knew that I was just out of practice. Life has really picked up since the good ol’ days and my coordination and athleticism have really taken a nose dive in the process. I couldn’t help but think about the other things that seem to have lost regular movement and acquired rust or rigor mortis in the meantime since high school. The shortened list includes my snapchat game, my cooking skills, my ability to pull off cargo shorts, and, getting real here, my “talk about Jesus to strangers while striving to look like Him” abilities. I look back to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes that I was blessed to share leadership of, the spiritual conversations I would recklessly dive into with random friends or acquaintances, and my willingness to pray at the drop of a hat and all I can think is man.

Those were the days.

practice

Thankfully God has continued to convict me in other ways and helped me grow and he’s still my best friend and yadda yadda, but these are a couple areas of my life that haven’t been called upon in quite a long time.

Sports or whatever else was important a few years ago seem to have mostly been pushed aside to make room for the more pressing agenda items such as not getting kicked out of the rental, looking for the next strategy to acquire more funds in hopes of having a good life, or finding the right church family to worship with. But today while I felt drops of sweat appear on my back and forehead and more tennis balls seemingly shotgunned outside the fences as a result of my random swings, I kept thinking about how important practice and movement of the individual parts is in the maintenance of the whole.

Peaking in high school just meant that I was at the peak of the amount that I practiced.

good ol’ days?

It seems like the stars just aligned for the good ol’ days, doesn’t it? Everything worked together for the combination of available time to be spent, determination, and the other available resources that created some kind of formula that made memories that will last forever. The idea of being a Christ follower with no fear seems to be a thing of the past. I know looking back it seems I wasn’t afraid to speak my mind or offer Jesus as the solution to an issue where it seemed he didn’t belong. But those days seem so far away. It is so easy to look upon our current lives with sorrow or regret of what we’re not doing, or what we’re doing wrong. Paul is someone who often encourages sorrow as a necessary step in a walk toward growth:

          2 Corinthians 7:11 - “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what zeal, what readiness to see justice done!...” 

Mismatched priorities need only to be realigned, and being out of practice means only that it’s a good idea to get out there and practice again.

There is no longer such thing as a world that will not be fighting for your attention constantly. In the midst of this pandemic that we’re experiencing, one would think that more opportunities for spiritual growth would be created than ever. But I, for one, have had trouble sorting through the notifications on my phone well enough to even make it to online church on Sundays. We may have mistook the word “opportunity” for “convenience.” I truly don’t think that anything worthwhile will necessarily be convenient, and being a follower of Christ is no exception. If we’re not practicing, rust builds, joints stiffen, and tennis balls may fly out of the fence.

they’re now!

I’m so thankful for a God who not only allows space for rust to build and joints to stiffen for our learning, but also is the first to provide the WD-40 and cleaner for when we learn enough to get back out there. He empowers everyone in different, beautiful, and powerful ways. There is room to practice again, and convenience can come later. The good ol’ days are ahead of us if we want them to be! I’d challenge you to search for rust that’s been created by this pandemic or other circumstances that have perhaps caused a lack of practice somewhere in your life. Commit to practice and don’t forget the incredible grace with which we’ve been provided a chance to start fresh.

Are the things fighting for our attention more important than the peak of our faith?

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 

The good ol’ days? They’re now!

The Next Day Was The Same: A Poem of Lament

The news crosses unbelieving ears. Shaky knees touch shaky ground. Eyes search solemn faces for any hint of dishonesty. One of you will tell me this isn’t my new reality. I live that day in denial, searching for his face around every corner.

I pray it’s all a dream. But the next day was the same.

Shock ripples through campus. The week is marked by heads hung low, voices hushed, and eyes reddened. He somehow had no idea how much he’d be missed. We hope he knows now.

Tears stung as they ran unchecked. And the next day was the same.

I want a reason and I find none. I want logic and I find none. I want peace and I feel none. I want more faith and I gain none.

My cries to God remain unanswered. And the next day was the same.

Here's what they tell me. God is present in the silence. God is loving in the doubt. God is patient in my anger. God is constant in his love. God is perfect in his plan.

He was there that day. And the next day was the same.

Here's what they tell me. There will be perfection. There will be no crying and no pain. We will be resurrected with him in all his glory. We will be joined in perfect unity with God.

We will raise our hands in worship. And the next day will be the same.

[Ab]using the Bible - R

Let's talk about the Bible.

Warning: this may get unpleasant and step on some toes. But it needs to be said.

If you, like me, were raised in the church, you've probably spent an enormous amount of time talking about the contents of the Bible without talking about the Bible itself. Namely, it's interesting the many different philosophies with which people read it, often without realizing their implicit assumptions. And this has a real impact on how we discuss, interpret, and live out the Bible today. 

Well sure, you may say, but the Bible is the Bible. It says what it says, it's God's word. How hard is that? We take every word seriously and we live out the commands. You don't get to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to follow.

It's this exact notion that I want to challenge. Namely, I want to ask two questions of this belief: do we really read the Bible that consistently? Also, is this how we should even be reading and using the Bible in the first place?

If this makes you uncomfortable, I beg you at least hear me out. Approach this conversation with an open mind. I am not challenging the authority, inspiration, or usefulness of the Bible. I write this as a professing, believing Christian, I promise. Let's have a conversation.

First, let's talk about consistency. I often find that the people who talk about the Bible in terms of simplicity and straightforwardness are talking about one or more very controversial issues: homosexuality, women's roles in the church, abortion, the interaction of Christianity with other faiths, etc. Now, I don't have the time nor the energy to try to argue one way or another on any of these issues. And let's face it, no one's mind will be settled by a blog post. But I do want to do a case study of sorts. The Bible does have plenty to say about these topics, it's true. And at face value, it seems like it should be rather easy to answer these questions. Let's talk.

Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty. - 1 Timothy 2:11-15

 I'm not gonna lie, as far as biblical passages go, that sounds pretty explicit. And when people are talking about women in ministry, this is often one of the first passages to get brought up. The Bible is clear on this, and this should govern how we operate in worship.

But as you may know, this isn't all that this chapter talks about. Let's look at what comes just prior to this.

I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument; also that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. - 1 Timothy 2:8-10

For some reason, this part gets far less attention. If we take the teaching on women seriously, shouldn't we give this equal weight?  Why don't we have the same argument over men lifting holy hands in worship? Why don't we also forbid women from braiding their hair, wearing jewelry, or purchasing clothes that are too expensive? Did Paul fall asleep at the wheel while writing this first part? Or is this a cultural issue?

My point in bringing this up is that you have to make some decisions when reading passages like this one. Most people would agree that some commandments in our Bible were more fitting for certain cultural aspects at the time when the Bible was written. For example, greeting each other with a holy kiss or treating our slaves with respect. But other commandments are for all people of all time. When people say that the Bible is simple to understand, they generally imply that the commandments fit on this side of the spectrum.

What I want people to realize is that all biblical reading involves interpretation, whether you realize it or not. As you read, you make decisions about how various passages are to bee understood today. Even if you claim to give the same weight to every word in the Bible, it is never that simple. If you argue that God is very clear about homosexuality in Leviticus, you have to acknowledge that God is equally clear about people with tattoos (Lev. 19:28), the fairness of purchasing slaves from surrounding nations (Lev. 25:44-46), or eating pork (Lev. 11:7). You don't get to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to follow.

Now, let's talk about whether that's how the Bible should be read.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” - Matthew 22:34-36

And Jesus did NOT reply, "all commandments are equally important." Jesus did NOT reply, "it's God's word, I uphold all laws equally.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:37-40

This is one of the only times in the Gospels when Jesus gives a straight answer to a direct question. Jesus is very clear about exactly where the people should place the emphasis in their Bible-reading. Not all commandments are created equally.

To put this another way: you don't get to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to follow. Jesus did it for you. The most important thing you can do with the Bible is to use it to love God with your entire life and to love your neighbor as yourself.

If you're using the Bible to shame, to judge, to ostracize, to cause pain, or to segregate, I'm very sorry, but you're just not using it correctly. There is no excuse we can give not to show love to every individual on the earth. God created them, God loves them, and God does not make mistakes. We have used scripture as an excuse to separate ourselves from God's people far too much.

If non-Christians had any impression of Christians using the Bible, wouldn't it be amazing if it was for us loving everyone fiercely? What would it be like if our reputation was openness, acceptance, forgiveness, and passionate self-sacrificial love? What if people stopped viewing the Bible as a rulebook meant to entrap and started viewing it as a guide to the purest source of love in existence?

Love your God and love your neighbor. If there is any passage that is for all people of every time, it's that one.

~RJS~

the sound of silence: women in the Church ~m

**hi, it's me after I've already written this blog. I just want you to know that I said about 29% of the things I wanted to say in this discussion. I hope I did this topic some sort of justice, but I know it's not all-encompassing or even close to the end-all discussion I wish I could communicate. Enjoy the blog.**

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"Privilege will deceive you.

It will minimize the pain of others.

It will tell you that your opinion is more important than their humanity.

It will make you feel righteous while you oppress and marginalize.

And it will lie to you about how God sees your privilege."

-Carlos A. Rodriguez via Twitter

 _________________________________________________________________________

 *Please note: my request is that before diving in to this blog you would stop for a second and pray for God's presence in the room to make itself evident to you. Allow the Spirit, if you believe in him, to communicate in any way he wants to. To give you some background, I've been praying about this subject so, so much. I'm earnestly seeking God's discernment through new experience, wisdom of those older than me, and of course prayer. 

intro

I’m quite terrified to post this. I’ve normally stayed fairly quiet about most topics that could be seen as controversial, and ones that are sources of division. Part of me is afraid of taking a stand on something that I know smarter and more experienced people than me disagree with. This topic, however, seems to be a source of division when nothing is said or it's only whispered about. Harm is being done by the silence that’s being spoken by respected people who either want to retain their respected title or don't think it's a topic appropriate to address publicly. I disagree fundamentally with that mentality. 

I unfortunately have had this conversation with multiple leaders in the Church who understand the context of certain Bible verses I’ll bring up later and acknowledged together that for the sake of tradition and comfortability the topic would not be immediately discussed or acted upon. So the topic is pushed to the back burner and not thought about. Years later we seem to be having the same attitude and, surprise surprise, nothing seems to have changed. 

I’ve heard and participated in the jokes that are humorous because of the portion of stinging truth in the punchline. 

I have also seen firsthand the desperation, depression, and hopelessness of ministers who aren’t allowed to be called ministers in their home circles. Cries of people who genuinely want to say "yes" to the calling of being a public vessel of Christ have fallen on my ears and when I began to actually listen to them a few years ago my whole life changed. I've seen these ministers lead people to Christ in unique ways that I would never have been able to do but someone else got the credit. 
There have been times when I have seen one or two scriptures quoted more than the Gospel in defending the traditions of old.

I cannot stay non-partial in this subject. Speaking freely, I see people I love who are being oppressed by people I love. I wish we would have learned from our country's history in racism:

Not standing up to or quieting loud, wrong people is a contribution to the noise they are creating. By disagreeing with oppression silently we contribute to that oppression, or at least give it room to grow.

I won't contribute to that silence anymore.

let's jump in

Let me start by asking you questions, please spend time on each one and answer them honestly and to yourself to prepare for the rest of this blog. I'd ask that you answer "yes," or "no" based on what you honestly believe: 

1. Do you believe a woman has a place standing in front of people, with men in the crowd, communicating Truth about God to people who need to hear it? (Judges 4:6, Acts 21:7-9)

2. Do you believe God's power is bigger than and not limited to gender? (Job 26:7-14)

3. Do you fundamentally believe it's a sin or against the Bible for a woman to lead in a group setting? (Exodus 15:20, Micah 6:4)

4. Do you believe a worship service on a Sunday morning is more holy or set apart than a gathering of people in Christ's name on any other day? (Matthew 18:20)

I'm very obviously leading to what I believe with those Bible verses after each question, in case you didn't pick that up. As much as possible I tried to focus more on Biblical examples of the questions being played out in real life, actual history, rather than the taken-out-of-context words in a letter and written instructions that seem to be quoted over and over again. 

These questions are the basis of the four issues that I really had to dig deeply into myself to find a truthful answer on. That was the only way for me to truly come to terms with what I believed. I'd encourage you to do more than just read a blog on this subject, but I'm glad you're still with me at this point. I have a little bit more to talk to you about. 

the sound of silence

            I'd like to call upon this classic song, originally (and performed best) by Simon and Garfunkel. It’s a tune well known by older and younger people alike, and I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t enjoy its haunting melody and shadowy, mysterious lyrics. The “sound of silence” seems like such an oxymoron and yet holds a significant amount of weight in the communicated idea that silence, or the complete absence of sound, is in itself a sound. It talks about thousands of people staying quiet simply for the fear of disturbing the sound that silence was making.

Why do they want to keep the silence...?

Who is benefitting from the silence?

I'm a guy. I've always been guaranteed leadership in the Church whenever I want it. Multiple times it has not been because I have the best things to say but simply because I have been a young man in the Church. I'm more than 80% more likely to be hired as a minister or pastor, and therefore it seems as a man I may be benefitting from the silence.

The more important question: who is being hurt by the silence?

You see where I'm going.

Silence is an action, action communicates belief, and belief is passed from generation to generation and results in more action (silence, in this case).

My point here is this: if you are consistently not saying that discrimination in the Church based on sex is wrong, or if you don't have an answer, or if you are okay with it happening, you are consistently telling those who see your action, or lack thereof, that you believe it is okay.

Perhaps that is what you believe. I just want you to know what you're doing.

God's design

"Male and female, he created them." -Genesis 5

Here's a hot take: God has given us strengths to help us, not weaknesses to limit us. What makes us feel like we need to confine those around us based on sex?  

God has designed us with incredible abilities. But is a man nothing if not a fighter, a father, and a provider? Is a woman nothing if not a homemaker, a mother, and a nurturer? What makes a human less qualified to communicate God's love to another human through speech? 

What environment is too holy to approach God's presence together? From what I understand, with the tearing of the veil (Matthew 27:51) all were given access to His glory and our bodies, male and female, became temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). We all have access to the holiest environment on earth (God's presence), so do we truly believe a church service, a gathering of believers who have ritualized a certain number of songs, prayers, and communion in a certain order somehow qualifies us more effectively for God's standards? I certainly hope not.

where do we go from here?

I want to propose that it's time for us to eliminate discrimination in the Church based upon words that are picked and chosen about one specific scenario. It absolutely tears my heart to think about how many times women must have stayed silent in a situation where they could have spoken the Gospel to people based on conditioning that humans have put on them. Think about how many more people would know Jesus right now if we had taken more time to invest in our women and stopped confining people who are desperately wanting to use their God-given spiritual gifts.

This can no longer just be a topic of theological discussion, though I hope it at least contributes to one being had. The sound of silence is deafening to those who are being hurt by it, though it seems like not a big deal to those who aren't affected. We can no longer make excuses for comfort's sake. You, reader, have to take responsibility for who you are in this scenario. 

Step out, stop contributing to the division and silencing of Kingdom work. Let people who need to hear about Jesus hear about him. Allow those who are called to speak about him to speak about him.

Of all my blogs, thank you for reading this one.

rocks (alt. title: i'm tired of waiting. alt title: "why are we naked?") ~m

intro - this is awkward

Oh hi. It's me. Mason. It's been...months since I've written a blog. Well, let's back up. It's been months since I've completed a blog. Riley's probably pretty frustrated at my lack of organization skills in the drafts column of our admin page. Sorry, my friend. It's a graveyard (GraceYard?) of half-written blogs that were abandoned because they just didn't seem quite right. I decided to dig up the bones of one of those for a thought that returned to me last night. I'm presenting to you a blog I wrote mostly on March 30, and then tweaked to fit my thoughts today, July 7 (oops).

Before I actually begin, I want to give you context as to where I am right now:

I spent some time yelling at God last night, if we're honest.
 I've been pretty frustrated recently with him for the ways it's felt like he's guided me into brick walls that I keep slamming into and hurting myself, and I've also been mad at myself for feeling entitled to a life above the hurt.
The theme my life keeps coming back to is that God's been telling me to wait. To be patient. I've prayed for guidance on things I felt I needed to act on...all I've gotten is the feeling and resources to wait. Wait for what, you're asking? I don't know, guys. I don't know. I can tell you I was on my face last night as I'm sure many of you have been, wanting to know what to do with one of the many things I have trouble surrendering control of in my life. I waited for an answer. I begged for an answer. All I got was that indescribable feeling of conviction. Patience. WHAT. NO. No more of that. I'm fresh out of that resource (your fault, God), and I thought you were making big moves in my life finally. That's what I deserve, right? After all I've given you?
Yikes. That sounds a lot worse written out than in my thoughts. But yeah, that's basically my thought process recently.

Okay, now that that's out of the way here are my constructive thoughts:

the easier-said-than-done waiting command

I remain confident of this:

    I will see the goodness of the Lord

    in the land of the living.

14 

Wait for the Lord;

    be strong and take heart

    and wait for the Lord.

-Psalm 27:13-14

Ever have a verse or theme get stuck in your head/life for a while, and you realize the reason later?

I'm having one of those right now, so I figured I'd write about it.

The Bible App verse of the day yesterday {UPDATE: this was the verse of the day for March 29th, haha} was Psalm 27:14, and an alarming number of my friends (if your friends don't see that you did it, does reading the Bible actually count?) made verse images for it. I finished my first Bible App plan in a long time a couple of days ago, and guess the real kicker verse the final devo was based off of? Psalm 27:13-14. I'm just coming out of a fairly significant season of attempted self-discipline and waiting in my life, and after really diving in I think there's so much to learn from this concept.

faith = trust...?

Let's go back to the beginning. Of life. And death. You're probably familiar with the Fall of Man (Genesis 3), the first act against God committed by humans, basically the entire reason life sucks sometimes. Thanks, Adam and Eve. Thanks guys.

 I recently gained a new perspective about our relationship with God, and if I'm oversimplifying this, please address all complaints to rjs16b@acu.edu (that's Riley's email address. Send me an email if you want his number. He takes complaints very seriously). 

I think that one of the most important attributes that went away with the Fall, and pretty much the reason for all our pain, was trust. Wow, Mason. Soooo profound. We need to trust God, good blog. Keep reading and I'll try to make it more interesting, I promise.

Have you ever noticed that the areas of life you feel weakest in seem to be the areas where you feel most attacked?

In Genesis 3, where all the crap that affected our entire lives on earth goes down, Satan starts his whole plan into the works simply by creating the opportunity for lack of complete trust.

rocks

This concept is so basic, but I forget the simplicity behind it almost every day. When complete trust isn't there, it creates a metaphorical crack, AKA an opportunity for Satan to put a metaphorical wedge in the metaphorical rock of our non-metaphorical faith. I mean, there's still an entire rock there when a small crack is in it, right? A small lack of trust doesn't mean a huge lack of faith. Big faith can still be there when a crack appears, but big faith can fall hard. Don't be fooled: a small crack can absolutely destroy a huge rock. {Side note here: doubt is an awesome thing that helps faith grow. Doubting with faith doesn't mean letting trust go to the wayside in this context. I'll cover that in another blog sometime, hopefully}

"You won't certainly die," the enemy says in Genesis 3 verse 4. "You won't certainly give into temptation," he says to you and me. There's a practical way out of every downfall, every addiction, and every misstep. Until things are so piled up that it feels like there's no way out, and you've done the unimaginable.
Maybe that snake is right. I didn't notice how legit this fruit looks...smells good, too. I'll take it from the tree and give it to Adam, he hasn't said anything...I'll eat it if you do, hubs. Oops. Down the hatch. 

Boom. Wait. Why are we naked? 

Back to the trust thing. In reading Genesis 3, do you notice that as soon as they lost trust with God, they lost trust with everything? The first thing they realize is that they're not clothed, and they no longer trust each other or whoever else was around with who they truly were.  So. Relatable. Trust was so important in the world when it was perfect. They acted without fear with their trust in each other, in God, and their surroundings. 

But we can't do that. Have you been hurt? I have. Sorry if this is too punk rock for you, but I have trusted earthly things to get me through life and been throughly disappointed. I still catch myself doing that, all the time. I've lost trust in my surroundings, and at times I feel callous to so many of the positive experiences and people in my life because I'm expecting to be let down. I think it's completely okay to not trust this world, it's just part of who we have to be sometimes.

jesus is the best vine don't @ me

Alright. Where does that leave us? We're in this waiting game and God's saying we need to be patient and wait on him. We're in enemy territory, we can't trust our surroundings. Waiting in this environment is like sitting and waiting to get hit with a stray bullet. 

Here's what we have  to do if we're going to make it through: we have to give God every piece of our lives. If you hold ANYthing back, you're not trusting him completely. Remember the rocks? We can't let a crack get in there. If one does, we gotta remove whatever Satan's using to chisel away at us, and Flex Seal that bad boy up. 

What does that look like? Uncomfortable analogy coming up: being naked. stripping down and letting God see what we're too ashamed to show the world. No fig leaves allowed.

Why would I say that? To get the point across, of course. Trust is a huge deal, and that's something many people struggle with, myself included. Here's the best part of this entire blog, though:

God delights in our deepest and most intimate corners of our lives, because we are a part of him. He's the Vine to our Branch.

(See John 15:4-6)

It's an incredible feeling, truly abiding in our Vine. He's where we belong, anyway. He created us to be naked (you thought I was done with that analogy, didn't ya), and he LOVES who we truly are. We're just a branch of him, anyway. Therefore we have zero reason to not trust him. We have every reason to be patient when he tells us to be patient, no matter the length of time or the confusion. Trust in him, friends. Trust in him, Mason. 

wrap-up

Don't get me wrong. It takes strength to wait, read the verse in Psalms again: Wait for the Lord. be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. You have to rally yourself.  Here are three ways to wait when God tells you to be patient about something. We all have something we want to jump the gun on. Identify that thing in your life. 

1. Wait with intention to stop waiting. Not going now means you're going to have to start at some point. Be prepared, and don't sleep on God's signs in your life. Patience for one thing doesn't mean ignoring everything else in your life.

2. Wait with trust. So basically what this entire blog was about. Renew your trust to be refreshed.

3. Wait with strength. Wait, but never stop moving. Patience doesn't mean being lazy. The enemy is going to try to distract you if you're doing the right thing. Keep your goal at the front of your mind. Eyes on the prize. 

Eyes on the prize. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if Jesus, when we meet him face-to-face, opens the books and allows us to see the good things from our lives with a greater clarity than when we first experienced them. Such speculation is not wild theology. It is near to the heart of the Bible. After all, Jesus said that the Father knows you so well--better than you know yourself, in fact."

 -Kevin Ott, Shadowlands and Songs of Light 

~m

The Unbelieving Believers - R

Man, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Since the last time I wrote a blog post, I moved into a new house, graduated college, went to a different country, saw two friends get married, and started my summer internship.

In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller: life moves pretty fast.

I do want to focus more on one item on that list, though, and that's going to a different country. I had the amazing privilege to travel with a group from ACU to a small village in Ghana called Ateiku. This was my first time ever leaving the country, and I was a little nervous I will admit. When I first heard about the trip, it just fit so perfectly with my schedule (between graduation and my internship) and sounded so compelling that I felt like it was very important for me to find a way to get there. And I think it was important for me to be there, but more on that later.

First, I want to try to give you a small taste of the colossal amount of work God has been able to do in that country in the last twenty years. Our main contact was a man named Lawrence Oduro. It is very difficult to overstate the impact that this one man has had on the community around him. He walked by faith to that small village of Ateiku to spread the good news, but when he saw how deep the needs of that community were, he did more than start a church. To skip a few steps in the story, because of Lawrence's work in Ateiku and the surrounding villages, over 100 wells have been dug, which bring clean water to hundreds of thousands of people; dozens of churches have been planted all over the country; because Lawrence cannot preach at all these churches, he started a school to train preachers, which this year graduated twelve new preachers; he also started numerous primary, intermediate, and high schools to raise the quality of education in the area; and most recently, he built a hospital in Ateiku to make healthcare more affordable and more available, since the next closest hospital is a two hour drive from their village.

Like I say, God has done an incredible amount through this one man. The area has been completely transformed. If you'd like, this amazing video gives a little more information on the ministry there, and I'll even promise not to continue with the blog post until you finish watching it.

The entire time I was there, I was keeping an eye out for why exactly God had me there. What was I meant to learn? What was I meant to see? Who was I meant to meet? What was I meant to do? I'm now fairly convinced that one of the most significant things to come out of that trip was a one-hour conversation that our group got to have with Lawrence one night. We asked him about the culture, about the ongoing work he was conducting, about the state of Christianity in Ghana - everything we could think of really. He very graciously answered all of our questions, happy to share with us ignorant Westerners.

Towards the end of that conversation, I asked him (since he'd been to America numerous times and often hosted groups of Americans in Ateiku) what the main differences were between American Christians and Ghanaian Christians. What followed was a conversation that might rattle around in my brain for the rest of my life.

The first thing he said: "Huge, not small." Seems like a belief in Jesus may be the only thing we actually have in common. He thought for a half-second and smiled. He said, "I would say that about 70% of American Christians are not believers."

We stared. Not really sure I'm following Lawrence.

It turns out that Americans really don't know what faith is. He talked about American churches trying to plan, trying to accomplish something. The first place they turn is not to God with a prayer but to the budget with a pen. We have to make this make sense, we have to plan and be organized, we have to work out of the carefully constructed line items that keep the church running.

Lawrence said that Ghanaian Christians don't have that luxury. They have to operate out of faith. When they see a need, they trust that God will find a way, big or small, to fill it, and they ask God to do just that until he does.

My first thought was to be defensive, to think that well yes, we pay attention to the budget so that we don't run the church into the ground, we want to be responsible, don't we? Then I remembered a discussion that I once had in class on the disciples and the feeding miracles.

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”
His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. - Mark 8:1-10

Let's go ahead and agree that the disciples here represent American Christians. They're asking a pretty good question. Or at least they would be, if they hadn't already seen him feed more people with less bread. Just two chapters prior to this in Mark, Jesus fed the 5,000! And then he walked on water! And the disciples are somehow still concerned with the question of how. It seems almost laughable at this point to think that Jesus couldn't find a way to do this, but it seems like they're doing exactly what Lawrence observed that we do. They're trying to make it make sense. They're trying to operate out of the numbers that work in their minds.

In the immortal words of Randy Harris, "God doesn't do math like that."

The sad reality is that Americans don't have faith because most Americans don't need faith. We are some of the wealthiest people in the world, we live in relative safety, we have an amazing infrastructure, and we have some of the lowest rates of hunger on the planet. For the most part, our needs are met regularly. We don't need faith, because we have the expectation that we'll be taken care of.

As someone who currently works in not one but two churches, I feel it's necessary to say that I'm not advocating for fiscal irresponsibility. I think budgeting is smart and important. The lesson I'm learning is that the budget cannot decide what we are capable of. What are mere dollars and cents to the creator of heaven and earth?

This is challenging me more than I can remember being challenged in a long time. I realized that even though I'm a proud Christian, I don't think that I'm a true believer. But there's no time like the present to practice. What's the wildest change you're hoping to see happen in your life or in the world? What's that impossible thing that hasn't happened yet? What's that thing that you could never do because the budget or the schedule wouldn't allow? Be crazy enough to believe that God can do that any way he wants. Start praying and start looking for opportunities. It may not make sense to us, but it doesn't have to.

Since when does God have to make sense?

~RJS~