What ever happened to being a just a Christ follower?

I am on a plane going across the ocean. One of the things that one does on such long journeys is to take a peak what other people are reading. I guess I am guilty. The lady next to me is working. She is a business woman and she has just been to a marketing conference on “branding”. She is coming up with some ways she can “brand” the product of the company she is working for. So I am borrowing this idea from her. Thanks.

This thought led to another one and it led me back to the 1980s when Russ Taff (who was then a cutting edge Christian Singer who would now qualify as adult contemporary) had a song that went something like this: “I don’t care what label you may wear but if you belong to Jesus then you belong with me”. I have liked that song for years though I must admit I do not listen to it much now. It struck a chord with me then and it still does today.

We attend an international church in Madrid on Sunday mornings that is one of the most incredible sights that I have witnessed. Every Sunday people from all over the world come together to worship. Africans, Asians, Spaniards, Americans, Northern Europeans and the list could go on and on and on. Sometimes I get the chance to speak there and every time I am awestruck as I stand up and look out over the 250 plus people who are there and I get a glimpse of what heaven will be like. A glimpse of seeing people from every tribe and nation worshipping together. I know from my past and the background in which I come from that you would rarely see anyone who looked different than us in our worship services. In reading a biography of Russ Taff this prejudice (spoken or unspoken ) that is in the church today was what inspired him to write “We Will Stand”.

ALSO, I think we often try to brand our denominations and make our particular denomination (you can fill in the blank on which one you put in the blank, we are almost all guilty) the best or the only one. Now I am not saying that all religions are the same. They are not. Religions are belief sets such as Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Then we have the cults and sects like Mormons, JWs, etc.. Then we have Christianity. We basically have Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodox and Protestants that would fit into that category. I realize I am painting some pretty broad strokes but hang with me for a moment. I recognize there are differences even further in Protestants such as Evangelicals and Ecumenical. Then we have the different types such as Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptist, Church of God and this list would go on further then your interest in this blog would allow.

No, my concern is that we make a BIG deal out of things that do not have to be so. We become much too preoccupied with what someone is rather than who they are. I personally do not like the labels. My point is not about belonging to a denomination or not. I belong to one myself. What I am trying to say is that we often get far too hung up on these things and when we do we start making big deals out of small things and we forget who we are and what we are trying to become and that is a mature follower of Christ and not a just a Baptist, Methodist or Presbyterian. I know this is old news and worn out but it is a message I need to remind myself of from time to time. I want to focus more on becoming a Christ follower and living my life on a daily basis following him and being led by the Holy Spirit than worrying about labels that people put on each other.

sayings from the southland

There are lots of sayings from the south. I know I must have 100s that I use and I am not even conscious of dem. Okay I cannot spell either. I learned fonix as a kid and that has shaped me in some interesting ways.

I remember hearing in church that cleanliness is next to godliness. Or was that from my mother? I am not sure. We took our bathes on Saturday evening whether we needed to or not so it may have been her that I heard or it could have been my 4th grade Sunday School teacher. I know it was not my 5th grade teacher because he took us spelunking (caving) and we got dirty and he would have never said cleanliness is next to godliness.

It is interesting but I have also heard that from deacons who have said that "orderliness is next to godliness. I guess that sounds rather "deaconish". They must have learned that from their mother as well and adapted it. Just kidding.

I have another one that I have never heard but it seems to be the practice of the day. It would go like this. "busyness is next to godliness". It is easy to point fingers these days at America. Everyone does it. It is the thing to do. I could say this is something that is about the culture in America and I would probably be fairly correct. I recently went to the states for a couple of months this past summer. I was there for almost three months. I got to go to a lot of churches and catch up with a lot of my friends in church life. I noticed how "busy" everyone was.

I came up with a sermon but I have not had an opportunity to preach it. I would probably not be invited back anywhere if I said what I wanted to. Perhaps I could give you the message on a blog. The first point would be: Busyness. I see that as something that has invaded our churches.
We have become soooooooooo busy that it is a wonder that we can experience God. It can make one very tired and burned out trying to keep up with the programs and schedules of the churches. Not to mention that as we are so busy going to church we run the danger of being too busy to "be" the church to the very people we are suppose to "be" in community with. We also are so busy doing church that we do not have time for anyone outside of the church unless they come to the church with us. So then we have made the church a place where we must invite the lost in order for them to be found instead of going into the world as our Lord asked us to do. It seems rather confusing , but I am worried about this busyness.

I could be pious and say that I am worried about this aspect of church life in the United States but I am rather worried about it due to my own life and addictions. I am much more excited about checking my email and clicking the finished button on a task than I am spending time with my supposedly best friend in the world: Jesus. I am much more excited about doing things rather than being the person I need to be or the husband I need to be or the father I need to be.

WHY ??

I am too busy. I can be too busy for such simple things in my life as prayer, quiet time, worship, reflection, journalling, walking in the park. I do not have the excuse of living in the states. I am in a country that is about as laid back as one can be and I still have managed to become busy and addicted to "doing" things instead of "being".

I need to go back and read the story of Mary and Martha but I am too busy to do that. I am so much like Martha that I do not even remember what Mary did. smile. Just kidding. I do remember that Jesus really liked that Mary sat at his feet and was content with being with just him and in his presence. I bet Mary did not know how to use Outlook or Excel though. I bet she knew nothing about scheduling appointments and ordering her day like Martha and myself.

So I can point my finger to the american church and call it too busy but I must realize the part I play in this. I am also very busy and I need to also slow down and smell the coffee. Actually drinking coffee is one that I do right and I do not go through a cup of coffee too quickly. You have to enjoy it. I need to practice that in my other relationships. My relationship with the Savior. My relationship with my wife and my children and my co-workers and my friends. Perhaps if I could BE that way (notice I did not say "if i could do that.. i am learning) then i could in effect help the church out. What if all of us practiced "being" rather than "doing".

Put that on your outlook and check it off.
adios.

Making things simple

Making things simple

I wish I could make things simple. I have a tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be. Take for instance the time I got a new computer. Okay, it was a gift from some friends in the states. I live in Europe. We use 220 watts and the states use 110 watts. Instead of doing the simple thing and reading the specs. And what to do with the extra current or whatever a watt is I just did the “male” thing and plugged it in and gave it the juice and instead of seeing windows pop up I smelled smoke. I naturally unplugged it and then decided to look at the manual and sure enough it told me what I should have done. There was an extremely small button on the back where all I had to do was to switch the button to the 220 position and I would have hadno problems. A couple of weeks later I finally decided to go to the store and try to fix it and I was able to buy a transformer to replace the one that smelled like it had been burnt. Smile
So … After another week of trying to figure out how to change it out I was finally able to turn it on. YEA. When I plugged it in there was no smoke and sure enough it booted up and became the computer it was meant to be for me. I could have saved myself a lot of trouble, patience, sweat, reading, etc…. If I had only read the instructions to begin with.
I made it all too complicated.

I have found something similar that I have done with churches. I think I have started churches that are far more complicated than what our Lord ever wanted. When I read the second chapter of Acts and especially when I get to verses 42 and following I see some pretty simple stuff about what a church or New Testament community of faith looks like.

They were devoted to ..
The apostles teaching
The Breaking of Bread ( the Lords Supper)
Fellowship – doing life together
Prayer

I think I have added so much more to what a church needs to be and the reason is that I have focused more on what we should “do” rather than “be”. I was often more concerned with all of the programs that I could generate rather than disciples that I could make.
I also think when I have added all of these things to a church then I greatly reduce its ability to reproduce itself because it is too hard and too costly.

So let’s remember the KISS principle- Keep It Simple Silly