Last week I went to see the movie Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher as the late, great CEO of Apple Computers. I have to admit, I left the theatre pretty pumped up and ready to go afterwards. Say what you will about Kutcher’s performance, or even the movie itself as a narrative, but I would challenge anyone with a pulse to go see that movie and to try and walk out not feeling totally inspired.

The filmed was released two weeks ago and immediately received lukewarm reviews. I’m sure that any movie buffs reading this post will want to start debating the good and bad points of the film. However, I’m not here to talk about the film as a cinematic work, rather, I’m here to unpack what the life of Steve Jobs can teach us about the patient love of God.

As an artist, writer, and creator myself, I’m always deeply moved and inspired by great innovation. The truth is, regardless of his personal pitfalls as a leader and as a man, Steve Jobs was one of, if not the most influential innovator of the last half century. The idea of home computers, portable music players, digital calendars that remind us when we need to be somewhere, not to mention a phone that has the ability to serve all those needs and more; all these things are a product of the vision of one man, and the company he led.

A brain like that of Steve Jobs absolutely baffles me. Jobs was able to envision and create a better, faster, and more well connected future that most people weren’t even dreaming of yet. He began meeting the wants, needs, and desires of his customers before they were even aware they had them. In short, Steve Jobs saw our future, and using Apple, he ushered us into it.

The film paints an extremely dark portrait of Jobs as a man. His character could be described as prideful, brash, impatient, and irresponsible. These are just to name a few traits. At first, I sat high up on my judgment seat, saying to myself, “I certainly hope I would never deal with my employees that way! What an unhealthy work environment he’s creating!” But as I thought more about it, I did not begin to excuse Jobs’ behavior, but I did begin to understand it on a deeper level.

Imagine a time before computers, before the internet, and before social networking. Imagine if you, in that world, were able to see a bright, shining, globally connected future where the potential for innovation and creativity were in the hands of each and every human being. Imagine if you were able to see all that, and no one else was. Imagine being so forward minded in your thoughts, that no matter who you brought on your team, it always felt like they were ten steps behind you, doubting and questioning what you already knew was going to work out as a modern miracle. I imagine that, and then I imagine just how frustrating that would be. If that was how my mind worked, I too may be a little prideful, brash, impatient, and perhaps even a little irresponsible.

Steve Jobs had an incredible mind and incredible vision. But the truth is, Jobs’ foresight into a better future was nothing compared to God’s current omniscience in our lives.

Deuteronomy 31:8 promises that, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.”

The truth is, God, much like Jobs, has seen and gone before us into the future. He has gone ahead and he has made a way for us. He has created a bright, shining, globally connected future, and he know exactly how he will bring us there. Yet we as his children sit in the desert of our lives complaining and fearing, turning to anything and everything else that we think might provide us with the hope we long for. And all the while, God is able to see this amazing future, but everyone on his team is always ten steps behind him. How frustrating would that be?

Let us ask the question though, what does God’s character look like in the midst of this frustration? Is he prideful? Brash? Impatient? Irresponsible? Some might venture to say so. But I would rather believe that his promise in Deuteronomy 31 is actually true, that even when we are unable to envision the hopeful future that he has gone before us to prepare, he is patient, kind, and will never leave us or forsake us as he slowly ushers us into it.

The future that God offers is more innovative than we could ever imagine. He is ready to meet wants, needs, and desires that we don’t even realize we have yet. His innovation looks a bit different than what we might find in the world around us however. It is not scatterbrained and malicious; it is not prideful or hateful; it is steady, kind, and loving. This is the patient innovation of God, and it surrounds each of us every single day. 

-jon

To be completely honest, the thought of creating this video terrified me. I knew that my intentions were pure, but I also knew it would run the risk of sounding like a prideful, combative comeback from a Christian artist who can’t handle criticism.

Let me just start by saying, that is not the intention of these words, and I pray that no one will view it that light. If I could, allow me to tell the story surrounding “Not Qualified” so that we might discover the heart behind the words.

After releasing the two part “Who You Are” series, I received some negative resistance from many different sources. Some from people who didn’t know me at all, some from people who knew me only in a very dark time of my life, and some even from my closest of friends. Through all the resistance though, one statement stuck out in my heart the most. This is the statement the video opens with, “Not Qualified”.

Upon receiving that specific Facebook message, my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t stop shaking. I felt as if I might be sick or fall over. And it’s because they were right. To tell you the honest truth, I am probably the last person who should be telling young women how worthy of love they are, not to mention telling young men how they should be living a purposeful, driven life. Because several seasons in my life have been spent living in the exact opposite worldview, causing many people around me to be left broken and hurting. How could I be surprised when people from my past thought I looked like an absolute hypocrite?

So at first, I admit, I was crushed. I thought, “well, it’s true, I should probably take them down.” But then I realized something…

What if “not qualified” is the perfect place from which to begin working for God?

I could either let the words of this message burst my precious “Christian ego”, or I could hear the sobering yet inspiring and hopeful news God was trying to tell me through the message. As I prayed, I did some backtracking and realized that God had been preparing me to hear this news all week long.

I received the message on a Friday. Earlier that week I was on a long drive in my car listening to a sermon by a woman named Christine Cain. Christine’s story is out of this world. I’ll explain a lot about the sermon here, but it is still worth listening to. (the link is posted here)

Christine is part of the leadership team for the A21 campaign against human trafficking. As a victim of sexual abuse when she was a child, Christine is wildly passionate about bringing traffickers to justice and setting girls free. As if this wasn’t amazing enough, throughout the sermon Christine details several other defining moments in her life. Like her struggles as a Greek woman in Australia to receive quality education and career opportunities, or when she was thirty-three years old and discovered that she was adopted. I told you her story was out of this world.

Christine goes on to show the congregation three documents that she received along her life’s journey. One from the hospital, telling her she was “unnamed”, another from the government that tells her she was “not wanted” by her birth parents, and a final one from a university social worker telling her she was, you guessed it, “not qualified” for the type of work she’d been training for.

I probably wouldn’t have made this connection later on in the week when I received the Facebook message, except for the fact that for some reason, Christine’s sermon spoke to me in such a profound way, more than any sermon had in years. Why did it speak to my spirit so powerfully, because I believe God was preparing me. He was preparing me to hear the words, “Jon, you are not qualified.” He was giving me the wisdom and encouragement I needed to hear what HE was telling me through the words in that message, and that’s not only that I’m not qualified, but that’s exactly why God chose me to make these videos in the first place.

In the Bible when God calls, the one who is called is hardly ever qualified for the mission. But we rarely think about the heroes of the Bible being unqualified, because we don’t think much about who Moses the murderer was before he became Moses the leader, or who David the shepherd boy was before he became David the King. But if we dive into these character’s pasts we begin to see they are just as broken as we are, and yet God used them in unimaginable ways. There are missions that certain people have no business being a part of because of past mistakes, or limitations. And more often than not, those are exactly the people God chooses, and for two reasons. One, because when the unqualified person completes the mission they cannot take any of the glory for themselves, but they are forced to point straight to God. And two, because it reveals something powerful about the love of God, that it is utterly and completely redemptive.

My absolute favorite line that Christine has is when she talks about how what Satan intended for evil in her life, with her being abused, God intended for good, cause now she leads the largest campaign against sexual abuse and trafficking in the world. She looks Satan right in the face and says, “Devil, I bet you wish you’d left me alone!”

“Not Qualified” is not a prideful, combative slap to the face, it is a call to each and every person with a broken past. It is a call to remember that the love of God is beautifully redemptive. And that what Satan intended for evil in your life, God has intended it for the good, and for it to bring about a more hopeful future. When we begin to live in that redemptive love, we too can stare Satan right in the eye and say, “I bet you wish you’d left me alone. Punk.”


-jon

If I didn’t love God so much, I’m not sure what I would think about the Bible. If I were to sit down and read all sixty-six books strictly as literature, I fear that I would quickly become infuriated at how predictable the stories are.

After much studied research I have devised a theory about the writers of scripture. That is: The writers of the Bible took writing lessons from William Shakespeare. (It may be the bother way around, timeline’s have never been my thing)

In the prologue of his famous play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare ruins his ending before the play even begins…

            “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
            A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life…”

Time and time again, the scriptures do the same thing. God often gives away the ending before the story even starts. Even as an amateur writer, I know this is not the way to keep readers engaged. And yet God seems intent on spoiling the ending.

In John 11, Jesus receives the news that his friend Lazarus has fallen ill. Rather than building the suspense, the first thing Jesus says is, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son may be glorified through it.” (v.4) Geeze, you could have at least left me wondering for a second. When I read a story, and the opening sentence tells me that one of the central characters is sick, the immediate suspense comes from guessing whether that sick character will live, or die by the end. It’s basic storytelling. And I have to assume that Jesus knows how to tell a great story, just look at the parables. And yet Jesus spoils the entire thing by telling us that Lazarus will live, thus making the story as I said before, utterly predictable.

This happens all over the Bible. In Exodus 3, God spoils the entire journey of the Israelites liberation from Egypt when he tells Moses from the burning bush, “I have come down to rescue them…and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” (v. 8). Why would I even read the next four books of the Bible if I know that’s where the main tribe is going to end up?

And furthermore, let’s be honest, in the end, what are the prophets but a bunch of spoiler alerts? They speak about the coming of this Messiah who will be the savior of the world. They ruin the end of God’s story. And John the Baptist beocmes the worst of them all by spoiling the ending of the greatest story God has even told. In John 1, Mr. Baptist sees Jesus and immediately says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”…”I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

CAN I GET A SPOILER ALERT???!!!

But (there is always a but) even with it’s ruined ending, Romeo and Juliet is still widely accepted as the greatest love story ever told. Why? Because the important part is not just that the lovers die, but also how they get there. The story of two kids falling in love so badly that they kill themselves is sad, but not heartbreaking in the way Shakespeare intended. But when he allows us to dive into their circumstances, we become intimately acquainted with the hearts of these two teenagers, and that is why the tears flow when the final curtain drops.

The same is true with God. The only thing more amazing than the things God does is how he does them. And it is only by diving into how he does them that we can discover why he does them. Understanding God’s plan of action is the fist step to understanding his heart.

The promise to enter the land flowing with milk and honey was not delivered upon for hundreds of years, and we see the Israelites had more than their fair share of twists, turns and wrong-doings along the way. The heart of God is loving and patient and faithful toward his children.

It was the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that took away the sins of the world, not some gigantic physical battle where he tore the enemy limb from limb. The heart of God loves so deeply that he is willing to give his only son.

While Lazarus is dead, Jesus knows that he will live again, and yet we see Jesus weep. The heart of God cares for those who are suffering, even though he knows that a great ending is coming.

And therein lies the rub. If God gives away the ending to all of these stories, then why does every person and character in them still doubt and wonder and fear and question? Because the ending that God spoils at the beginning is often so good, and the circumstances so bad, that we are unable to believe it. We look at the current situation, and it’s so bleak, that we discard God’s promised ending as “impossible”. The Israelites oppression was unimaginable. Lazarus was dead. Jesus was a carpenter from Nazareth. But God brings his greatest endings from the most humble beginnings.

God is telling a story with each and every life. And his word is filled with spoiler alerts. (Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11, John 16:33, Joshua 1:5-6) Unfortunately, we often don’t believe in them, because God’s ending for your story is way better than you could even imagine. And if the ending wasn’t amazing enough, just wait and see how he gets you there. It’s not just where God takes us in life, but also how he gets us there that reveals the fountain of love flowing from his heart.

-jon

Genesis 1 has always been an extremely powerful and elusive passage of the scriptures for me. And the more I dive into it, and the more I study the rest of the biblical narrative, the more I discover just how important and relevant the creation poem is to the larger story that God is telling through his word.

The metaphors used in the opening pages of the Bible stretch across the entirety of both testaments. In the story of the Israelites, we read about God bringing order out of the chaos in the lives of ex-slaves wandering through the desert, just as He did in the beginning of time. In John 1, the word becomes flesh and is given as the light of the world; in the beginning, with four words, God brings light into the world. The constant battle of light versus dark, water, fruit, mountains, valleys, every biblical metaphor out there can somehow be traced back to the words of the creation poem. It’s about much more than famous words or hard facts or biology versus creationism. More importantly, this passage speaks directly to the heart of what it means to be human.

We see the opening lines are not written in prose, but much like the Psalms, which were all meant to be songs, it is written in verse. This suggests to me that the writer, however the knowledge came, through divine intervention or whatever, clearly understands that the process of the formation of the world was a divinely creative, or dare I say “artistic”, process. Why else would it have been written as a poem?

It is from within this creative process that man and woman are first formed. (verse 26) And, as the text informs us, they are formed in the image and likeness of God, a God who chooses to reveal himself first and foremost as a creative being. How then can we not draw the conclusion that all humans are, among other things, inherently creative creations?

Now I know I just made a lot of academics extremely angry. Please know, I am not suggesting that everyone is an “artist” in the tradition sense of the word. I am suggesting that there is not only room to create in all people, but also a call to create, and that our definitions of creativity and art are far too limiting. I heard a definition of art the other day that for the first time didn’t sound completely pretentious.

“Brilliant art takes something that you think you know and puts a new light, a new perspective, a new lens on it.” –Joel Clark

So perhaps the truth is that many people who maybe would not consider themselves “artists” create art everyday, they just call it something different. Some people call it innovation; some call it leadership, some teaching, some serving, and some even science. To limit creativity to what the world defines as “artistic mediums” is to limit the potential for innovation in the world. And looking at Clark’s definition, we could argue that all art at its most profound form is simply innovation, in all areas. God makes this clear with the things he chooses to create. For example, he creates light, which is a beautiful thing that artists have tried to capture in photos and paintings and other artistic mediums for thousands of years. But it is also an extremely scientific thing that inventors and academics have tried to creatively harness and use for the betterment of society.

I do not mean to undervalue the potential for innovation through artistic mediums. As made clear by the gifts used in making the video, the heart of Anima is using artistic creativity to help convey the power and truth of God’s Spirit in our lives. It’s not just pretty fluff. But we would never seek to limit where or how human creativity can take place, after all, God’s first creative work was creating a whole universe. How could we ever seek to put him in a box that only painters and singers and poets are allowed into?

All of creation is a two-sided coin, bursting with both “artistic” beauty and the potential for creative innovation.

So wherever you are, trust that God wants to use you in a creative way, to advance your business, your family, your church, or your school into a brighter future. He wants to use you to help bring order out of the chaos. He wants to use your gifts, no matter how seemingly uncreative they may be, to help bring light into darkness. He wants to use you to communicate his love and goodness to the world.

The world needs innovation. And innovation requires creativity. Creativity is not only important, but it is central to what it means to be made in the image of God. The potential for creativity, not matter how it is expressed has been placed inside each and every one of us. We have the potential and the call to create. Therefore we have the potential for innovation, for revolution, to change the world.


-jon

Recently, I was fortunate enough to find work in downtown Chicago, and I must admit that traveling to the big city each day really feeds my “artist ego”. I am living the true bohemian life. Amidst the hustle and the bustle of corporate America, I’m just another starving artist trying to survive another day.

The truth is, I live at home in the suburbs and still depend on my parents financially for many things, probably more than I should.

Living forty miles outside of the city, the commute to work each day can become quite the ordeal. After years of commuting into downtown, my dad has finally passed the torch along to me, and you can find me on the 8:03 train out of Pingree fives days a week.

The hour and twenty minutes that I spend on the train each day, twice a day can sometimes prove pretty long, and if it weren’t for my Bible, my headphones, and my self-indulgent need to write blog posts about myself, I think I would have lost my mind in the first week.

Heading into downtown in the morning is not half bad. It’s the beginning of the day, so I’m excited for work and to get into my bible, and of course, to write about myself. The ride in is great. It’s the ride home when things get rough. After a long day downtown, walking out of the door at work and knowing that I won’t be walking into my house for another two hours hurts my fragile little soul.

My least favorite part of the journey is the moment we leave the downtown station. From the window of the train, I can look down and see the tracks below. It’s a sight to behold, a labyrinth of seemingly endless metal make up the “track” below. There is no way for the untrained eye to determine where one track ends and another begins. To me, it just looks like a mess of steel, wood, bolts, and levers. As the train navigates its course over all the changing tracks, it makes the most horrible squeaking, squealing noise. Something like….

EEEAAAGHHHHIIIEEOOOOOAAAHJJJAH!

This goes on for a good two minutes before it gets better. And finally we end up on our correct track and begin speeding for home.

The commonly believed notion is that any journey is always most difficult between halfway and three fourths done. This may be true. But let us not dis-count the debilitating effect that a rocky start, a bad beginning, can have on us. And let’s be honest, when embarking on a journey, our beginnings are rarely smooth. When beginning a road trip, it takes the moment for the GPS to find it’s signal. While the plane rises to it’s appropriate altitude, you’re not allowed to use your electronics, which is just pure torture, isn’t it? And don’t even make me mention the squealing train again.

The beginning of a journey can be rough, and is often riddled with bumps and squeaks and bends. And if we look down at the tracks below us, we fail to see how and where they are leading us. The directions are all so mixed up and we cannot make sense of them. But that’s because we have untrained eyes.

The moment we make a decision to follow God is the moment we sign the contract to go on an epic journey. And within the larger journey, God calls us on many sub-quests along the way. Most of us fear the beginning of the journey so much that we never even leave the station. And it’s true, whether it’s the larger journey of our lives, or a tiny sub-quest, starting can be horrifying, because way too often, we can’t see clearly where we’re going. We’re like the disciples, sailing through the middle of a storm; we’re unable to see a path to the shore. This is why we put our trust in the one who has the trained eye, and who is above the storm. The one who has a different perspective on the tracks, and can see how they all fit together. The one who is able to change the course of our journey, even when we make a wrong turn, to help us get to the desired end.

So perhaps all this squeaking of the tracks, while annoying, is also necessary. Perhaps the annoying squealing at the beginning of your journey is simply God pulling the levers to get you on the right track. He is able to make sense of the mess of metal and wood and bolts, and is able to put us on the right track in order to bring us home.

So if you’re in the midst of starting something, and your journey has had it’s fair share of bumps and re-routes thus far, I hope you’ll think on this. A rocky start isn’t always a sign that you’re on the wrong quest. Often times, later on, it serves as proof that God was simply pulling levers to get you in the right track.

-jon

I am a classic American. I'm obsessed with food, especially eating it. Admittedly, I probably spend more time thinking about food than anything else. As soon as I finish a meal, I get excited about imagining what the next one will consist of. Please pray for me.

 I almost never skip meals. If I do I get tired, grumpy, and uninspired and even my girlfriend and my mother don’t want to be around me.

This need to be fed physically is something that we can only fight for so long until it has an adverse affect on us, and for most American’s it’s a need we can’t seem to fight for very long. The feeding of the human soul, however, is a different story. In a culture of busy, busy, busy, I find more and more that while our physical bodies are getting fatter, our spirit is growing gaunt. We are aware of the issues surrounding world hunger, but I’m not so sure how aware we are of the soul starvation epidemic that is sweeping the nation.

If my spirit is not fed in certain ways throughout the day, I become stuck, living my life tired, grumpy, and uninspired. The neglect of a stomach leads to a tired body, the neglect of the soul leads to a wasted life. And if we were to take a good look around, we would see that this is happening everywhere, and it’s happening to everyone.

I spent so much time in college wondering, “Why am I in a bad mood? Why am I so tired all the time? Why does it seem like everyone around me is so fired up and getting so much done, and I don’t want to do anything?” After years of struggling with these thoughts, I finally realized that my spirit simply was not being fed by furiously sweeping through my “busy tasks” for the day, then watching Two and a Half Men, and going to bed. There were certain activities, certain practices that I needed to engage in each day in order to allow my soul to flourish. We all have these activities and practices. I found that my list came down to three areas that require intentional engagement each day in order to keep me fueled, physical, creative, and spiritual.

Physical:
Physical activity has always fed my soul, I just never thought of it as physical activity until I stopped playing organized sports. Because organized sports are like undercover exercise, you don’t really realize it’s happening once you get into the game. In a football or basketball game, I would burn hundreds of calories without even breaking a sweat. Once I stopped playing sports however, I’ll be honest, I got fat. It’s probably not “politically correct” to say that, but I got the point where I wasn’t happy with how I looked. That is when I took up “working out”, which couldn’t be less under cover for most people. But I have really grown to crave a good workout. I don’t know all the correct terms for what happens to me chemically when my muscles are worked and my heart rate is raised, but I do know that after I have gone for a good run, I feel better, my head feels clear and my heart feels open. So I would be a fool to not engage in some type of physical activity every single day.

Creative:
People always talk about creativity as an outlet of some sort. This metaphor always has confused me. I understand that when someone engages in something creative, they are pouring out something from their heart, but I find that the more I pour out creatively, the more I become filled up. Creativity may be an outlet, but it is also a fountain and a funnel of inspiration, joy, and life. To take part in creative work means that I have been a part of moving our world forward somehow. My spirit is not just kept in a bottle, but it is poured out into a symphony of newness. And for some reason, the more I pour out, the more I find myself filled up.

Spiritual:
This last section, for some of you, may not be your thing, and that’s fine. For others of you, it may be your thing, and I can guarantee you don’t do it enough, because I don’t do it enough, and more importantly, I have never met anybody who does it enough, save for one person, but He only hangs around in Spirit now, so it’s hard to catch Him. To be fed spiritually bring immeasurable fruit to the life I live. It sets a firm foundation for me, it serves as a reminder of what is most important in this life, and that this life is so much bigger than this world. And since God formed me physically before I was in my mother’s womb, and He is the original creative being, by connecting with Him and being fed spiritually, I am inspired to find different ways that I can feed myself in those other areas. Engaging with God each day frees my spirit to open up and pour into the dark places of this world.

Please note: This is a very personal list that changes from individual to individual. Just as one person may enjoy grapes and another person enjoys carrots and I enjoy cookies. None of us have been created to be the same, so we have different areas that need to be fed daily, but they do need to be fed.

If we desire for our lives to have an impact on the world, then we need to begin pursuing fatter spirits. To feed my spirit each day not only will help me live a happier life, but also a life a greater influence and servanthood. You cannot draw from a well that has run dry. You don’t eat bacon from an anorexic pig. God calls us to be “living sacrifices” in Romans, and each day I want to make a nice, fat sacrifice of my spirit pouring out into the world physically, creatively, and spiritually, so that perhaps someone else might be fed by what has already fed me. I know it sounds like sloppy seconds, but I think, like cheese and wine, it can just get better with age.


-jon

In the Old Testament there were two main places where people met with God. Moses met with God on the mountain in the middle of the desert. You’ve heard the stories, burning bush, ten commandments, staff into a snake and back again. And hundreds of years later, after God’s people began inhabiting the promise land, the high priest met with God in the inner room of the temple. From this place, the high priest was able to hear directly from God, pray directly to God, and receive judgments for crimes that had been committed. For the people in biblical times, these were the only places where an encounter with God was possible, and these were the only people who were privileged enough to enjoy it. This was true, until Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:23-24. After talking about worship in the temple and on the mountain, Jesus says,

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers much worship him in the Spirit and in truth.”

Here we see that because of Jesus, we no longer have to travel to the top of the mountain or study to be a high priest in order to have an encounter with God. But because God has poured out his Spirit for all people, we encounter him when we begin to live in and through his Spirit inside of us. And not only that but this is how God desires to be worshiped. This is what he seeks, what makes him happy.

This is what “Encounter” is all about. The mountain and the temple are not the only places where one can meet with God anymore. Anyone can encounter him anywhere. And yet we still live like God only dwells in certain places. We’ve replaced the temple with a church sanctuary, and we’ve replaced a mountain with a spiritual retreat to the woods or to summer camp. But part of the good news of the gospel is that God has poured out his Spirit for all people, so now we are able to encounter him and give him the worth he is due anywhere and anytime, because his Spirit and truth now dwell within us. We need not search for something that is already inside of us, we need only release it.

To worship God does not require anything special, other than to have an encounter with the Spirit of God that is already inside of you. It’s a realization of that Spirit and a reminder of the truth. By doing these things, wherever we so choose, we are giving God the kind of glory and worship he seeks. In short, we make him smile.


-jon

*IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE VIDEO YET AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT....

“God’s gonna do great things through your life!”

“God’s gonna use you to accomplish amazing things in this world!”

Messages like these are become part of the norm in the contemporary church. These words surround us in the conversations we have, in the songs we sing, and in the books we read. Now please don’t misunderstand me, I believe these sayings are true. Not only true, but they can be backed up in scripture. If we look at the Bible, we see a story of God using people, and often unlikely people, to accomplish amazing things in this world, dare I say, even miraculous things.

The new movement of the church is powerful, revolutionary, and something that I believe is bringing positive change to society and the world at large. In the last fifteen to twenty years, the church has shifted it’s focus to a relationship with God, rather than a system of stuck, religious rules, and it seeks to empower it’s members to realize that they can make a difference for God’s kingdom. This is a great movement, and one that I am passionately a part of. But, as in any movement, it has its dangers.

What I think often happens in contemporary Christian culture is that we warp the vision of the church by subconsciously rearranging phrases like the ones listed above until we place God at the wrong place in the equation…

“You’re gonna do great things for God in your life!”

“You’re gonna accomplish amazing things for God in this world!”

Unfortunately, and I only know from personal experience, we leave these “encouraging” conversations with the latter two phrases pulsing through our minds and hearts and begin to believe in a false view of what it means to follow God. In a culture where every other person is starting the next big charity, or benefit, or non for profit, it is hard to not fall into the “faith by works” belief that the latter phrases infer. The contemporary church movement desires to see God do huge things in this world. They desire to see the miracles of God as told in the Bible be resurrected in our communities each and every day. (Habbakuk 3:2) This is a fantastic mission, and once again, one that I am seeking to be a constant part of. But the thought that we have to do great things, that we have to manufacture miracles in order for it to happen is, in my opinion, the completely wrong way to go about fulfilling this calling. If we desire to start a spiritual revolution the way Jesus did in the first century, we will not do it through miracles, because neither did He. We will do it through something greater than miracles.

Now don’t get me wrong, Jesus performed miracles, many, many miracles. He walked on water, healed the sick, fed 4,000, fed 5,000, raised Lazarus from the dead, and still had time to heal that one soldier’s ear. The miracles of Jesus are scattered all throughout the gospels. It’s humorous then, to notice how much the Pharisees and disciples react to these miraculous signs. They say, give us a sign so that we can believe, what will be the sign you will give us so that we can believe? (Matthew 16:1, Matthew 12:38, John 6:30, Luke 23:37) Even after witnessing the miracles, they still demand miracles, as if they didn’t see what just happened.

So do the miracles do anything to increase their faith? It doesn’t seem like it. The disciples saw Jesus calm the storm after having just woken up from a nap, yet Thomas still had his doubts. Peter walked on the sea with Jesus, and yet he still disowned the teacher in his darkest hour, the Pharisees stood by and watched miracle after miracle, and the only thing they do is question whether Jesus should be performing them on the Sabbath or not.

Even though these miracles did not increase their faith, the crowds continue to demand one. And on the cross we see them ask for one more miraculous sign…

“The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” (Luke 23:27)

To me, if I’m Jesus, I see an opportunity here. He has been nailed tight to a cross, hands and feet, he is tired, bloodied and broken, but still, he could have easily pulled a David Blaine and blown everybody’s mind. Had Jesus saved himself in that moment, it may have caused many people who were there to fall to their knees in awe of God for the miracle they had just witnessed. And yet Jesus does not save himself, he stays on the cross and dies. That death, which all throughout the gospels is hinted to as the main reason that Jesus was sent. This was Jesus’ final hour, his greatest act, the reason for which the Father sent him, and there was no miracle to be found, just a dead man on a cross. Which once again suggests to me that there is something more powerful than a miracle.

In verse 46 of the same chapter Jesus says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And he dies. Not only does he die, but in that moment, he pays the price and takes the punishment for the sin of the entire world for all time, and it’s not done through a miracle, Jesus’ greatest act was not a miracle because Jesus knows what this entire post has been hinting towards thus far, that there is something more powerful than a miracle and that is a sacrifice.

We as Christ-followers, when we subscribe to the “faith by works mentality”, constantly find ourselves stuck and afraid. We think, I don’t have the skill set, I haven’t developed my gifts enough, I am not ‘spiritual’ enough to accomplish great things, to perform miracles for God. And that may be true. But the lesson we can take from Jesus is that there is something more powerful than a miracle, and that is a sacrifice. Perhaps there are none among us who can perform miracles, but each and every one of us has the ability to sacrifice. We can echo the sacrifice of Jesus each day and say, Father, I have given you my best, “into your hands I commit my spirit.” We can give our circumstances, our talents, our resources, our struggles, and our lives over to God and what God will do, just like he did for Jesus, because Jesus did not stay dead, is he will take our sacrifice, and he will turn it into a greater miracle than we could have ever imagined, like a resurrection from the grave, defeating sin and death for all time. God doesn’t want your miracles, He’s got the miracles in hand, and he’s just waiting for a sacrifice to attach them to.

So may we come to see the truth that our call is not to do great things, but it is the give it all up, to sacrifice and commit our lives to God, so that He can take our sacrifice and form it into a greater miracle for His kingdom than we ever imagined. 

-jon

On the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24 we meet two men. Cleopas and his friend are headed the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, talking with one another about the events that have transpired in the last few days when all of a sudden, an unknown stranger shows up and begins walking beside them, asking them what they’re chatting about.

Cleopas and his buddy are a bit confused, because Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet who many thought was the redeemer of Israel, had just been handed over and crucified. His trial and execution had been an all day, public ordeal, everybody knew about it.

“What? Have you not heard? Have you been living under a rock?!” Cleopas asks.

“Well, yes actually,” replies the stranger. (Read it again, you’ll get the joke)

So Cleopas gives the stranger a much needed news update about all that has transpired concerning Jesus of Nazareth. And in return, the stranger rebukes the two men and proceeds to give them a long Biblical lesson about the Messiah and how it was foretold he would come, starting all the way back at Moses. I have to assume that this took the rest of the seven miles, before the three finally reached Emmaus and invited the stranger to come in and stay with them instead of continuing to talk through the night.

Finally sheltered away from the elements, the three sit down at the table where the stranger takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to them. And in that moment, their eyes are opened and they recognize that Jesus was the man they had been walking with.

Now, I don’t know if you’re like me, but if you are, then you spend the majority of Luke 24:13-35 wondering when these two idiots are going to recognize their Savior right in front of their faces. Harsh? Maybe. But come on Cleopas! And yet they don’t recognize him, not until a very specific moment. And to me, the specific moment when they realize it’s who is before them conveys a very powerful truth about faith in Jesus and what it means to live like and walk with Him.

These two men, Cleopas and his unnamed buddy pal, spend an entire day with Jesus, they walk seven miles with him, they hear him teach nearly the entirety of the scriptures, and yet they don’t recognize him until when? They recognize him only when He begins to break the bread, when he draws himself into community with them. And for me, that points to something very profound.

Jesus was not recognized by His teaching in this circumstance, He was recognized by His heart for community and sharing love.

The Christian faith is often twisted into a simplistic message of “preach to convert, preach to convert.” We claim the Great Commission as our cause and we use it as an excuse to shove the graceful love of Jesus painfully down the throats of non-believers. By doing this, we ignore what the Great Commission is actually saying.

First and foremost, Jesus says to make disciples. Then He says baptize them. And then he calls us to teach them. It sounds to me like the salvation and redemption part comes way before the preaching and teaching to “do right”.

To me, this is the heart of the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ does not say follow all these rules, or, “change, and then you can join us”, although we so often make it sound like that. The Gospel of Jesus, and the Great Commission He gave screams the glorious message of, “join us, and you will change!”

The fact that Jesus was recognized only when breaking the bread leads me to believe that perhaps there is a more powerful, and more Christ-like way to make disciples then the classic “preach to convert” method. Perhaps the way we can look most like Jesus, and be recognized as His followers, and therefore draw in more disciples, is by committing ourselves first to breaking bread and living in community with those who are lost and looking for their way home.

So may we stop using the Great Commission as an excuse to be self-righteous and condemning, and may we instead, realize the truth behind Jesus’ calling to invite others in, so that he may be recognized in us, and so he can begin to do his teaching and redemptive work in their lives.

-jon