Hey friends…

I do not mean to be cynical with this poem.  It has just been a long winter and I have not been outside much.  And I miss experiencing God through nature.   So, seeing images of nature during worship services has been difficult for me.  Don’t change them Alex, they are still very cool.  And for the record, communal worship services in buidlings (yes, malls) are some of the most powerful and Spirit-filled experiences of my life.  Still… poets must write.

Images on the Screen

Dark orange sunsets sink into oceans

Strangers worship in deserts with unbridled emotions

Fields of wheat dance under Montana skies

Though truth’s on the screen, reality lies

Cause I’ve stood on the mountains and heard them sing

Whitewater falls thundering praise to their King

I’ve slept in the night under heaven’s ceiling

I’ve joined in its chorus and know its feeling

I’ve walked the edge of this earth where land becomes sea

Ridden its waves and learned to be free

I’ve been lost in this song that creation well knows

But now I am lost in this building, its pews and its rows

Cause you can’t feel the wind when you’re surrounded by walls

And nature’s shouts grow faint when we worship in malls

You can’t see the sky when you’re looking at screens

And if the picture’s not us, what’s it all mean

Love is beautiful, but loneliness is real

Charity inspires, but its greed we feel

We do this life in the in between

Balancing reality with faith unseen

So while hope hums songs of things to come

Those dreams ahead aren’t where I’m from

For the life lived now swells with tension

Peace on earth with too much pain to mention

Sins forgiven and grace for fee

Still I’m held captive to the beast in me

For heaven is now, but not quite yet

Cause a new creation still regrets

So while light and darkness rarely loose

We live in their shadows, and in them choose

I believe if one contemplates the nature and purpose of the church, they will inevitably find themselves pondering the mission of God in the world. I also believe that if anyone contemplates the mission of God in the world, they will find themselves pondering the nature and purpose of the church.

That is to say, practically, God’s mission of redeeming the world does not exist without the church. And it is also to say, that when the church forgets (or marganilizes) God’s mission, it forgets how to be itself.

Sometimes I wonder how often I deceive myself. I wonder how often I stray from the way of Christ without ever knowing it. I wonder how far we wander from God and go our own way.

It is not difficult to say that most of us are uncomfortable with our weaknesses, failures, and broken parts. When it comes to our weaknesses, we ignore them, flee from them, hide them, or fight them (almost always privately). Rarely do we embrace them. Rather, we like to live and lead out of our strengths. We put in front of others our gifts, knowledge, talents, successes, and so on. And in the process, most of the time, we push our weaknesses deeper inside ourselves… hidden and often times undealt with.

Yet weakness and brokenness is something that unites us as humanity. We are all weak. Yet some of us still cling to the myth that we can push our weaknesses and inadequacies aside, muster up our talents, and “succeed” in this life. But what I am learning, is that this is not the way of the Christain life. Still, there remains this danger that we can build our lives, and the church, on our talents, strength, knowledge, and will power. Don’t misunderstand me, we can bring our talents, gifts, and God-given knowlege to the feet of Jesus to be used to build His Kingdom. But Paul teaches us that God’s power is made perfect through our weaknesses, not our talents.

So do we lead out of our weaknesses? Or do we downplay our weaknesses as we grow and trust in our talents and knowledge? Are we guarded about our imperfections and vulnerabilities, or are we transparent in weakness? Are we defensive or open? Are we aware of our deep brokenness, amazing ability to get things wrong, and the fact that we are still very much “in process”? Do we DELIGHT in vulnerability, showing God’s power and grace?

I believe there is a danger in the church today to hide our weaknesses and operate out of our strengths. There is a temptation to glorify ourselves, our talents, our worship bands, our church style, our knowledge, etc. But it is in our weaknesses that the power of God is shown… and God glorified.

People get brokenness. If we flee, and fight, and hide, and downplay this in our lives, highlighting our talents, programs, and vast knowlege, the world will not resonate. But if we present our brokenness to God and to others, the grace and goodness of God is made known in powerful and world changing ways.

What do you think? Does this resonate with your life with God? experience in church? the tension in your soul?

Here is a quote I found in Michael Frost’s book Exiles:

Only when the last tree has died, and the last river been poisoned, and the last fish has been caught, will we realize that we cannot eat money. – Cree saying