My observations – Page 3

The dream place

The picture above may not look like much to you, but it’s part of the dream I (and my wife, Alexis) have. It’s part of the dream given to us years ago by God to be missionaries to Poland (to learn more what our missions is visit REACH Polska). The dream for us is focused around people, and that apartment building pictured above is a tangible representation of the mission. From time to time Alexis and I look at possible places to live in Krakow, for that final day where we are launched into the promise land. On our last trip there as a family, we went to different neighborhoods in Krakow, and that apartment building above is from one of the places we visited.

As with every marriage, there’s a number of things that Alexis and I have our disagreements over… but one of the areas where we are in line with each other, is the kind of place we want to live. Because our mission is people focused, we want to live where the people are. In Poland, and especially in large cities like Kraków, the people live in apartments, quite nice ones – these are not your standard cookie-cutter American sub-burban apartment complexes. These apartments are really more what we call condominiums, they are built to own.

And because we also believe in being sustainable Christians, stewards of of what we have been given, we will be living car-less, which is quite possible in Kraków. When needed we’ll rent a car, or join a car-sharing program (if one exists), but we’ll mostly get around by foot, bike (Kraków does have a bike-sharing program), and transit. We are very excited about this kind of lifestyle, and know that it will open up opportunities to meet our neighbors, and others, and build new friendships quickly and naturally.

There’s a few requirements our little place in the city will need, one a balcony, and hopefully a fairly large one, we like balconies, and we like plants, so a balcony is a must. Second, we need to be near a park – Poles like parks, and especially in a city we know we’ll meet people there on a regular basis, and of course Emma and our other future children will love it too. Thirdly, a spare room, we know we’ll be hosting people, and having a spare room (which will double as a meeting/office space as well) is a must in providing the ultimate in Polish hospitality. Even if we don’t have all these things at once, we know that our city living will be exciting and beneficial for expanding the Kingdom in new and different ways.

Rubiks cube generation?

A few days ago I was on the train heading into work, there were a couple of ladies a generation or so ahead of myself who were talking about “kids these days”. I would like to say they were talking about the great possibilities… sorry, instead they were more concerned with the fact that all “they” do is complain, demand, and “play” with their iPhones and technology. Alas… I feel like many of “them” in “that” generation are like a Rubiks cube… with every turn you’re further away from the solution.

These ladies continued to talk about how they were afraid for their futures, how both had children that would probably “stick them” into nursing homes, or worse “let them die in their homes and no one would know until a few bills went unpaid” – they actually laughed at that… I was beginning to wonder if they even noticed I was near them… probably not. This conversation continued all the way in (about 40 min) – and let’s just say, the only thing positive they had to say was “at least they know how to make themselves happy”.

There’s so much out of this conversation that I wanted to puke at, some of it generally “true”, some of it is their own perception and experience (and sad ones at that), but mostly I wondered how much of it was self perpetuated… considering I see the generation(s) ahead of me jumping at the opportunity to mentor us all the time (sarcasm). However, I know “we” can’t be all that fast to blame either… as I know I certainly haven’t jumped up and said “pick me, I want to be mentored” all that quickly – although I do hope for it…

It seems there’s a paradox at work here… “we” want “them” to ask, and “they” want “us” to ask… not gunna happen very quicly if we’re both expecting/wanting the other “side” to ask… Sure, there’s a lot of trust to work on, but someone’s gotta make the move! I’ve made a few baby steps recently, but gosh, do I feel small and insignificant (which isn’t true… it’s a feeling though) when it comes to my “place” in the world after hearing that conversation (and other tidbits from time to time in other places).

Sustainable Christianity

Created to sustain?

Genesis 1:26-31 [NLT] Then God said, “Let us make human beingst in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. 31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

If the above passage isn’t one of the most “green” passages of the Bible, then I don’t know what is. I’m tired of American, suburban, “mainstream”, evangelical, “conservative”, “Christianity”. I love the Church, but I don’t love the stereo-type “Christianity” that is so prevalent in America, and unfortunately has a loud (and humiliating) voice. As a Christian I see nothing in scripture (nor do I ever hear from God) about politics, lifestyles, or a myriad of other “campaigns” our American evangelical “christian” circles tend to stand (quite strongly) behind.

The translation I used in the passage above uses the word “govern”, other translations say “subdue”, “rule”, “have dominion”, “be it’s master” – etc. It doesn’t say “strip it”, “rape it”, “be greedy and multiply”, “destroy and conquer”, or any other number of things that some of my brothers and sisters would never admit to, but support through their campaigns and political nonsense.

Now, I could continue on and be very critical, and beat up on my fellow believers… many of whom are my friends as well. But instead, I want to point out that I believe (and am convicted and urged by the Holy Spirit) to do my best in sustaining what resources we have (both natural, and human). We, as a Church, should support (and am convinced we are obligated) fair and green trade initiatives where possible and sustainable. The Church should be in support of moving our people around (read: public transit) efficiently, sharing resources where possible (Acts 4:32-37), and realize that we were created to sustain the planet, not abuse it.

There’s a lot of talk about this subject, for now though, I will do what I can.. because ONE (or three) does matter and make a difference. We are working our way to living in a place where we can live as we were created, and govern our lives in a way according to how we were created. Living near our friends, our church, our work; shopping near by from local/fair sources; using renewable sources to power our lives; reusing/recycling what we have; and reducing our footprint in more than just carbon emissions.

Once we were children

A few weeks ago we were walking with Emma in her stroller to an annual “teddy bear parade” that Gresham puts on each year. It was a sunny day and we had a lot of fun. I made a number of observances that day, mostly around how adults and children perceive the world. A few of Jesus’ teachings came to mind, “be as children” and “have faith like a child”… The way that children (ones whose Love tanks are full, and free of most trauma) view the world and live is simple, usually one-tracked, and clear.

About a week after that parade I was walking home from something from downtown Gresham, and needed to cross a busy street, one of the same crossings where just the weekend before we were crossing with Emma. On that first crossing the cars stopped for us almost immediately, and my happy family of three crossed without incident. Attempting to cross the street alone, well that’s another story. I waited a good three or four minutes for someone to stop and let me cross (there’s no light/crossing signal at this particular crossing)… I’m glad that people prioritize children and families when stopping at crosswalks, but what is it about our society that an adult man has to nearly step into cross traffic to get people to stop so he can cross a street?

I realize that people are generally not as cautious about adults as they are with children (this is most likely a natural response) – but why are we so callous against our fellow adults? What if we did view each other as children? Would we see a difference? Would the negativity and jaded attitudes go away? I’m not really that bothered by my own little experience, it just highlighted something about our culture, our human nature. After all, we were all once children – why allow life to jade our vision of each other?

As a Christian there’s a lot this life presents us with, and in the end, I truly believe seeing every person as a child truly helps bring clarity when relating to other humans. The world is a truly messed up place, nothing really makes sense, but on an individual level, a whole lot makes sense when we see each other as children.

Feeling disorganized

I hate feeling disorganized, out of sorts, disconnected, or any number of feelings along those lines. Recently I have felt like my thoughts are incomplete, not quite what I wanted, and mostly just ramblings. I feel things, but I can’t express them – but then when I try, it’s just sorta anti-climatic…

It’s probably my own expectations not being met… on myself… that’s a fun one. Now that I think about it, these feelings are all too familiar… insecurity… man I hate that, it’s humbling. But the more I think about it, and the more I hunt out the crap and lies and realize the truth, the more I don’t have to deal with these feelings and live life as I should – a life-infused follower of Jesus, with nothing to fear because I have never-ending life!

I like ideals, I live by them, and many times it’s these same ideals that get me so frustrated, but I know that if I continue to have faith in the giver of these ideals (of which they are all based on living out my values, which are based on being a child of God) then I will see the harvest. It’s a lot of patience, and so often I feel it’s fruitless and won’t change anything, but I know deep down it will change and it will make a significant difference – even when many around me don’t think so.

I can’t give up, I won’t, not because I think there’s a bigger prize… but because I know living this way is far better than not having hope. Even when it’s hard to get out, hard to explain, or just isn’t received with the excitement I would like (also read, as, met with a matching excitement, yes I too like to feel validated).

Happiness…

Last night I had dinner with a friend of mine and the topic of “what makes you happy” came up… Well there’s a lot of “things” that make me happy… but many times I discount them as “superficial”, unimportant to the goals I have set out in life. They are little things, like having a nice drink anytime I want, getting “frou frou” coffees whenever, going out with my wife whenever, buying new clothes… all things that take money, which we seem to never have enough of.

Of course, with enough money, I can be as happy as I want, right? Well, not really, because there really are only a few things that make me truly happy, the kind that brings the tears. Guess, what? Each of these things are highly relational, spending time with just Alexis, Emma, and/or both of them. Being with friends and family for meaningful conversations. Connecting with God during amazing worship services.

But the one that drives me, and yet evades me, is seeing people come to know Jesus, not the religion, but coming to a realization that He is their Lord, the person who can take all the burdens of this world. Jesus is the answer, and yet so hard for us truly accept. Seeing people encounter Jesus for the first time, actually just seeing people encounter Jesus at all (weather the first time or the millionth) brings the most joy to my heart.

Yet, this one amazing thing can also cause so much heartache, constantly seeking to see people for who they are, passing no judgement, but knowing there could be such a different life, a never-ending purpose driven life. Seeing people’s faces, hearing their stories, seeing and hearing the heartache every day. If only people knew their true identity.

So, I realize, as long as I focus on this joy, the things that come and go in life do not matter so much. Seek His kingdom first, and we shall inherit the earth, quite literally! Now that’s something to work for, to put effort into, and along the way I’ll continue to do my best, make course corrections, and connect with people as deeply as possible with intention.

No performance

One thing that I lose sight of so often is the awesomeness in the fact that I don’t have to perform, anything, at all, zero, for God. All I need to do is love Him and let Him love me. It’s in His love that I find discipline, repentance, forgiveness, humility, and servitude. To enjoy God in this way is great, but when I get pulled into the “faith by works” cycle it’s no wonder I lose who I am… there’s no freedom.

The worse place for me to feel the performance preasure is the “God talks” with co-workers, for some reason the performance button gets pushed, normally I play it cool, but I certainly don’t feel the anointing, or power, or eloquence that I do in other parts of my life. This performance button turns on fear too, it’s all tied together.

Time to relax, remember who I am, and know I can have the same confidence I have with my “job” as I do with my call. I didn’t gain that confidence over night, but I know that it’s here in me. Some prayer, some truth, and some worship for this area of my walk and I’ll be good to go… or at least falling forward!

Socialists & Communists = the “real” Christians?

As a continuation of my previous post… I wanted to touch on a key aspect of Christian community… “being of one heart and mind”. There’s a lot more to the context of the following passage, especially considering the persecution just prior and the serious act of sketchy-ness just after… which provides the backdrop for the kind of motivation the early Church had to be united.

Acts 4:32-35
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

The key to all this sharing, is that Jesus is King (not a dictator commanding the economy and everything and person in it, such as our human examples of socialism and communism), the issues just prior to this (healing a man in Jesus’ name and speaking in His authority) brought great power and unity to the early Church. Is it possible to regain that, today? I believe so, it may look the same, or it may look different – but I believe it’s possible. I believe it because I know our God desires it, and what he desires is possible. We don’t need a “redo”, we simply need a “need to” or just a “do”.

So what will it take for us to be of “one heart and mind” again? I don’t know, I just know that it starts with ONE, it starts with me, and it starts with you, just the ONE. We can’t get hung up on “everyone else” and attempting to think for them, and get them to “see the vision” – we just need to walk the vision ourselves. What’s the vision? It’s love first, and making him our first love. It’s John 17. It’s Ephesians 4. It’s Revelation 2:4.

Community + Communism = Kingdom?

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

So, how do we live this out? How do citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus live here on earth, like that mentioned above? How do we do this knowing perfectly well, as humans, we’re going to make mistakes, hurt each other, and most likely really piss our neighbors off at times? Is it a mandate for Christ followers to live like this? Have we fallen far from the “ideal”, and are so concerned with “myself” that something like this is “not possible” today?

I don’t think it’s a mandate, but I do believe a healthy group of Christ’s kids will be compelled to live out the values we see in this passage. Community with humility, essentially sharing to meet other’s needs… dare I say communism or socialism?

Communism is the idea of a free society with no division or alienation, where mankind is free from oppression and scarcity. A communist society would have no governments, countries, or class divisions.

Socialism is based on co-operative social relations and self-management; relatively equal power-relations and the reduction or elimination of hierarchy in the management of economic and political affairs.

So, there’s elements of communism and socialism out of this Acts 2 passage… but it’s not quite the same. There is a key difference, between the Kingdom and these types of systems… There is a government, and a strong hierarchy – with one person at the head – Jesus. This key difference is what makes the Church community function… So why do we (American/Western Jesus followers) have such a hard time living this out?

In my opinion, the ideas of sharing, selling our things, buying for others, and coming together on a nearly daily basis seems asinine to us because we do not trust. We don’t trust others, we don’t trust the “church”, we don’t trust God. First of all, we don’t need to trust others, nor the “church”, we only have to trust God. Trust and taste, and you will see that He is good.

If we can truly trust Jesus, and live by the Spirit, then we can serve others, and live without being offended. Our hearts should burn with fellowship and love for one another, but I don’t believe this burning comes without us first burning ourselves.

I have a lot more to say around this topic, and the sub topics… humility, servant-hood, living “offendlessly”, and other key ingredients to living in the Kingdom community. It’s not all about “giving up” our way of life, it’s about gaining a whole new way of life with huge benefits that our individualized way of life in American/Western culture has completely lost. Update 9/25/11: see part two of this stream of thought.

The trouble thoughts

It’s always so much “fun” recovering from days where the performance button is pushed. Today was like that for me, nothing major, but just a few minor mistakes leading me to feel frustrated with myself.

In an environment with multiple simultaneous demands, interruptions, and the need for accuracy to save my poor co-workers from confusion and frustration, I have a hard time hitting the spot all the time. Worst of all is when it happens multiple times.

The trick in these scenarios is stepping into the truth that I’m just human, mistakes happen, I’ll slow down, make adjustments where needed and move on. My identity is not tied to my performance, this is a truth that is FAR harder to live out, and it’s one that I encounter all the time. If I want an easy way to stress out, be mad, be more frustrated, and treat poeple as non-human, it’s forgetting this vital truth.

When I get in the groove of performance then I actually start making more mistakes, covering them up, making excuses, and really just cause more problems. It’s a huge snow ball effect, one I don’t recommended….

My identity, and the original and true identity of all, is within the Kingdom, where Jesus says we are his children, and by that alone we are righteous, pure, and good. Getting into the Kingdom is not a performance game, so living as a citizen of His Kingdom requires nothing but unconditionally loving Him, loving others, and loving myself.