The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Faith (Page 15 of 24)

THE Faith

September 4, 2012 / / 1 Comment

As the father of three teenage daughters (OK, technically Carley turns 13 next week), I have a lot to fear. I fear the boys. I fear the proms and the weddings. I fear the drama. I fear the things I don’t understand and can never relate to. And, did I mention, I fear the boys. But I also have another fear. I fear that one day one of my daughters may tell me she’s not interested in my religion.

My religion.

I’m human. Oh, my word, yes, I’m human. And as a father, my potential for failure is great. In my efforts to protect them and shape them and provide for them everything they’re going to need to fully function in this world and, at the same time, deny them the things they want that would ambush that process, I’m scared to death of being too strict. And in my sincere struggles to be open and accessible and relational, I’m scared to death I won’t have the courage or integrity to give them the proper structure and rigid discipline they need. My fear is that some day one or more of my daughters, damaged maybe by my failures as a dad, might see some connection between those failures and my religion. It would be easy to do. I’m afraid they could use that as an excuse to leave the Church. I’m not crazy, right? You’ve thought similar things before, yes?

So, I’m determined to teach my girls that my religion is not my religion; my faith is not my faith. It’s much, much bigger than that. I received it from my parents who, in turn, received it from their parents. The Christian faith in our family is deep and old. It belongs to me because I inherited it from them and didn’t throw it away. I’ve held it in trust for my kids. I’m passing it on.

I tell my daughters that rejecting the faith is not simply a matter of throwing away the tastes of their parents; it’s not just chunking my idiosyncrasies or abandoning my methods of control. Christianity is a long held belief about the nature of true reality. Our faith is a way of looking at life and living in this world. It’s been attested to by millions of very different people over many different centuries in a great variety of many different circumstances in countless different ways. It’s not just mine. The faith is universal and eternal. It’s everything.

Yes, my kids will be free to accept or reject the faith. But I’m doing everything I can to make sure they understand that what they choose to accept or reject is not simply their parents’ religion. It’s an old, old faith. One faith. Just one. The significance of the differences among the Christian denominations is made totally insignificant by the great march of time. This one great thing to be accepted or rejected is not my religion, not my family’s religion, not the U.S.A.’s religion. It is the Christian faith. It’s been passed down for over two thousand years. Each denomination has passed it down and transmitted what all Christians everywhere for all time have confessed. It’s one eternal faith.

Any faith that is Christian certainly has the proper pedigree. If it claims Jesus as the Son of God and the only way to the Father; if it claims salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of the Christ incarnate; if it claims Jesus as the exclusive Savior of the World, it goes directly back to the original apostles who saw and heard everything and to whom it was all revealed by the Holy Spirit.

We can’t say the words “my faith” apart from owning a faith that came from others. We all know that. But I’m not sure we teach it enough. This is not a private thing, or even a familial thing. It’s much more than family or denomination or nation or century or era. It is mere Christianity. It’s ancient and universal. And it’s weightier and more worthy than all the faulty expressions we’ve experienced in our churches or in our parents.

Now, I’m still scared. And I’m still very, very aware of my great potential for failure as a dad. But my kids are all going to know that Christianity is not my faith, nor my religion. It belongs to eternity.

Peace,

Allan

Passing the Baton

July 26, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“What we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us, we will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation.” ~Psalm 78:3-4

The apostle Paul calls life in Christ a race. He tells us to run the race to win. And I believe it’s critical that we understand this race that we’re running is a relay. There’s not a single one of us running this race alone. Someone passed the baton to us. And we are now passing that baton to others. We are today standing on the shoulders of those who’ve gone before and, at the same time, paving the way for those coming after. It’s a relay. And something really special happens as the baton is passed.

Notice the boys in this picture who are receiving the baton. See how they are looking back at the runners who’ve gone before. They’re stretching back with open arms, open hands, to receive the baton. They’re measuring their steps so they match up with those who are passing the baton to them, trying to match their stride.

Now look at the one passing the baton. Notice how she is running her fastest right here at the exchange. She’s giving it all she’s got. Her part of the race is almost over. She’s near the end of her leg. But look at how she’s running harder and faster now and working harder now than she was at the beginning. Look at how she’s stretching and straining and lunging to pass this baton on to the one who will run after her. Notice how she’s concentrating on the task.

Now, see how for a time these two are actually running together. For just a brief moment, right at the point of the exchange, the two are running perfectly together. Step by step. Stride for stride. In perfect rhythm. One finishing her assignment, one just getting started. Running together. Cooperating together. Sprinting together. Enduring, persevering, working together. Side by side.

I love that image. I think it’s divinely-ordained. And I believe this is where God’s Church needs to dwell. We need to live in that really cool moment of exchange.

You older Christians, we need you to be actively involved in raising our kids. We need you. We need your wisdom. We need your experience. We need your advice. We need your examples of someone who’s seen it all and endured it all and kept the faith. Our children need to see it in you. They need older people to look up to. You’re running the race, you’ve been running it a long time. But you’re not done. Now’s the time to pass the baton. It’s time to understand you’re not running your race alone. We need you to run faster, to work harder, to reach out to us and pass the baton.

You younger Christians, we need you to be fully engaged with those who are running ahead of you. Look to them. Make eye contact with them. Measure your steps to match theirs. Reach back to them. And be in a spirit to accept from them. Strain with everything you’ve got to accept their love. Their concern. Concentrate on receiving their stories. On accepting their faith.

As we exchange the baton, as the older people stretch and the younger people reach back, as the Christian faith is being passed along in our Christ-centered relationships with one another, we’ll discover that we really are running side by side, step by step.

“He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” ~Psalm 78:5-7

Peace,

Allan

Cheering the Runners

June 29, 2012 / / 1 Comment

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on… let us encourage one another.” ~Hebrews 10:24-25

Our summer Wednesday nights at Central are intentionally focused on getting our church family together; on breaking down the barriers between generations and zip codes; on putting away the distinctions; on bringing together all ages, races, cultures, economic groups, and social classes to celebrate the divinely-ordained diversity with which we’re blessed in this body of Christians. And this week’s version of Running the Race — we called it “Cheer the Runners: Encouraging One Another” — surpassed by far our expectations.

For the evening meal, we asked everyone in our church family who was baptized 50 years ago or more not to wait in line to serve themselves, but to sit down at the designated tables so the rest of the congregation could serve them. And we did. We served up tons of brisket and potato casserole and strawberry shortcake. And after we all ate together, we sent these older saints into the foyer of our chapel. While the rest of us gathered in the pews, our older brothers and sisters were outfitted behind the foyer’s closed doors with “runners tags,” big numbers to wear on their chests declaring how many years they’ve each been running the race. Meanwhile, I prepped those of us waiting in the chapel for what would come next.

Johnny led us in the singing of Come, Thou Almighty King and then Greg opened up the back doors and here they came! Right down the long south aisle of our 83-year-old chapel. 60-year-Christians! 70-year-disciples! A couple of 74 and 73 year followers of our Christ! And we let them have it! A standing ovation. Clapping. Cheering. Whistling. Stomping. High fives and hugs. Salutes and pats on the back. Yelling. Hollering. Smiling. Laughing. Nearly 70 of our dearest, sweetest brothers and sisters entering our place of worship to such a roaring welcome. Three hundred more of us cheering them on!

It took a little longer than I thought it might. But if it had lasted three hours, I’m convinced we would have kept clapping and whistling. And everybody in the room would have kept smiling.

Once these dear saints got grouped up at the front of the chapel, we sang to them:

“We love you with the love of the Lord. We see in you the glory of our King. We love you with the love of the Lord.”

And then we all sat down together and raised the roof in beautiful song, praising God and encouraging one another.

Next, we ran around with a couple of handheld microphones and asked these older members to fill in the blanks: My favorite thing about Central is __________. I once was __________, but now I’m __________. I’m encouraged when I see younger people __________. They really opened up with us. They shared their hearts and their emotions. They shared with us their joys and sorrows, their laughter and their tears. More than a few of them expressed gratitude for having once been uncertain about their eternal salvation, but now being completely confident in the promises of our God. A lot of them spoke of their admiration for our elders and ministers. There were many comments about the faithfulness of this church. There were several observations regarding the blessing of so many young families and children in our congregation.

And then we younger ones blessed our older ones one more time: We love you because __________. Again, we heard over and over the common themes of faithfulness and love. We’ve watched them run the race. We’ve watched them endure and persevere in faith. And we’ve felt their great love for us. A lot of people in that room have been blessed by the faith and love of these older saints for their entire lives. And I pray we were able to return some of that encouragement and strength Wednesday night.

Later, Mary had us all divided up — intergenerationally, of course! — into 20 groups to create and decorate Running the Race banners, using only the random supplies and following the specific directions provided at each of the decorating tables. It was quite a deal. Young and old, black and white, rich and poor, older saints and brand new Christians, all working together on these little projects and then, with great pride, displaying their banners and posing for the “team pictures.”

It was an extraordinary night. I believe every person who participated Wednesday came away with a strong sense of truly belonging to something huge, something bigger than ourselves, something eternal. I think we also got a real reading on the faithfulness of our God. He really is still alive and still very powerful; he really is still saving people and still bringing his people together to work and worship and, together, change the world. And I believe we got a little glimpse of heaven Wednesday night. We experienced a little taste of the one people around that one table celebrating together our salvation from God in Christ.

We’re doing a church-wide tailgate party on July 11 and prayer-walking our neighborhoods on July 18. Can it get any better?

Truly we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. Let us not grow weary or lose heart. And may we consider how we may spur one another on.

Peace,

Allan

God Prepares the Course

June 20, 2012 / / 1 Comment

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” ~Genesis 50:20

We can’t always see where our course is leading. As we’re running the race, we’re not always certain of what’s around the corner. We don’t always know. Only one sees the course perfectly: the loving ONE who marks it out for us.

Joseph is told at the very beginning of his race in Genesis 37 that he would provide for his brothers and family. He had no way at all to anticipate how that would come about in such a massive way. Yet God knew all along that he was going to use Joseph to feed his family and provide for the welfare of the world. It just took a while. It took a long while. It took thirteen years of slavery and prison before God eventually placed Joseph where he knew he’d be all along. God intended it for good. We just don’t always see it.

What I want you to know is that it doesn’t matter where you are in your race right now. If you’re at the top of the highest peak or at the bottom of the lowest valley; if all your dreams have come true or if your life feels like a never-ending nightmare, there will always be ups and downs. Some lives are more up than down, true, and vice-versa. But there will definitely be highs and lows in your race. The truth is that regardless of your present circumstance, God’s sovereignty — his love, his mercy, his justice, his faithfulness, his loyalty, his goodness — always wins!

Evil will not triumph. Blessing will always prevail. Obstacles will all eventually melt away. Joseph’s story shows us God’s complete control of our races.

In Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat the narrarator encourages Joseph while he’s in prison. He tells Joseph not to despair. Don’t give up. “I’ve read the book,” he says, “and you come out on top!”

Now, we don’t have that benefit. Our books aren’t finished yet. The chapters of our lives are written as we live them out every day. And we don’t know exactly what our endings are going to look like. But the call from our God is to run the race with endurance and faithfulness. Wherever we are. Whatever our circumstances. Keep in mind, our race is much more than just the end result. The journey, the process, is just as important.

Joseph’s complete faithfulness while he was a slave, while he was in prison, was every bit as valuable to God as the ultimate deliverance he brought to his family. Faithfulness is faithfulness. It’s huge!

Our response to the God who marks the course and runs the race with us is not a raised hand in a moment of prayer in the worship center. It’s not an emotional walk down the aisle during the singing of Trust and Obey. It’s not the amount on your Sunday morning check or the Bible passage you read Tuesday. The only appropriate response to God’s total sovereignty and loving faithfulness is complete submission. Total commitment.

“We have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to our Father and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our own good that we may share in his holiness.” ~Hebrews 12:9-10

Peace,

Allan

Running with Regular Folks

May 31, 2012 / / 2 Comments

By the time Whitney and I got in the truck after Bible class last night and turned on the radio, the Rangers were down 17-0 to the M’s. We started praying for a quick score and an onside kick.

Good grief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The writer of Hebrews walks us through the hallowed Faith Ring of Honor in chapter eleven, biblical hero by biblical hero. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David. By their faith, the writer makes clear, these people conquered kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and “gained what was promised.”

Then the author has the audacity to commend disciples of Jesus — the Church, you, me! — to run the race the same way these heroes did.

Excuse me?

You want me to be like Abraham? You want me to be like Moses? Are you kidding? Why don’t you just set me up for a lifetime of cruel disappointment? I can never live up to that. Who can?

Before we check the “NA” box on this one, we might want to consider one thing: as Christians, we are extraordinary, we are super, we are heroes; not because of anything we’ve done or can do, but because of what God through Christ is doing in us and with us.

When we live by faith, we bear witness to God and God bears witness to us. Our lives become proof that faith in God works. Despite our weaknesses and shortcomings. Probably precisely because of our weaknesses and shortcomings.

We’re not perfect. We’ll never be perfect this side of glory. But our Father is working to make us perfect, we are “being saved,” in the everyday middle of running the race in faith.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.” ~Hebrews 12:2

Peace,

Allan

Adventure in the Kingdom

April 3, 2012 / / 1 Comment

A new cancer diagnosis every minute. More pink slips and foreclosures. Economic uncertainties. Tornados. Divorce. Car wrecks. War. Rumors of wars. These are not settled times in this country. Not at all. But they are — they should be — exciting and adventurous times.

Praise teams. Women’s roles. Church leadership structures. Instruments in worship. Small groups. Ecumenical movements and interdenominational partnerships. These are not settled times in the Churches of Christ. Not at all. But they are — they should be — exciting and adventurous times.

I’m reminded of something Stanley Hauerwas, that great theologian from the Grove, wrote almost twenty years ago:

“God has not promised us safety, but participation in an adventure called the Kingdom. That seems to me to be great news in a world that is literally dying of boredom.”

It’s all out there in front of us. Adventure. Thrills. Daring missions. Risky change. Challenging discussions. Exciting encounters. What are we waiting for? To get all our ducks in a row? To find all the answers first? To make sure everybody in our boat is on board with the exact same theology and uniform practices? No! What’s exciting about that?!?

What’s going to save more people? What’s going to redeem my part of the world for Christ? What’s going to make you and me more like Jesus?

Not worrying or complaining about current politics or health care or the culture. No ma’am. And not arguing and debating about church politics and practices and church culture.

Getting out there in the middle of it, with other Christians, sacrificing and serving, saving and learning, throwing our entire selves into the mission of God with full knowledge and trust that he is going to do something incredibly wonderful with it if we’ll just submit to him and his calling. That’s going to save people! That’s going to reconcile God’s world! That’s going to make us all more like our Risen Lord!

But what about this post-modern, post-Christian society? Nobody wants to listen to anything about Jesus. No, stop it. Everybody you know at work and in your neighborhood and at your Wal-Mart is desperately looking to be a part of something that’s hugely significant and bigger than themselves.

But what about our Church of Christ identity? How is the world going to know that we’re different from other churches? No, stop it. Jesus died on the cross so we would all be one in him, so I’m sure he’d be thrilled if we worked according to his plan for a change.

These are exciting and adventurous times in the Kingdom of God. Of course, as long as your faith is in you and your particular church or congregation instead of in the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, you won’t see them as anything but unsettling and dangerous. Faith in God tells us that we’re surrounded by divine potential. Holy mystery. Heavenly adventure. Eternal excitement. It’s high time we abandon ourselves and jump in with everything we’ve got.

Peace,

Allan

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