Blue Bowl

We have a blue plastic bowl in our house that we use for the kids baths. I am not really sure where it came from. I do not remember it pre-baby. But as far back to our first child and first days of bathing I remember the blue bowl. It has been incredibly useful. We use it to rinse out hair and entertain children. It can even be found to be used as a doggy water dish in the middle of the night. It sits in the bathroom with the kids bath toys. It is not treated well. It is washed periodically with other bath toys and rinsed out along with the bathwater. It is not noble. But it is extremely useful. It has, at times, come up missing. And I always miss it when bath time comes, if it is not accessible. This extremely un-special object is integral to our daily life.

I have been thinking lately about being like the blue bowl. You see in God's kingdom I often want to do something really noble and profound. We pray for God to use us in great things. We pray that we could have huge impacts. And then so often we feel the drudgery of the day to day. Nothing really grand happens. No big call to duty. And it is here, that I have been living. Today I heard the soft whisper of the holy spirit beckoning me to be like the blue bowl.
Romans 9:21 "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" (NIV)

It is here that I sit. I wake up change diapers, change clothes, brush hair, brush teeth, make breakfast, wipe counters, wipe faces, wipe butts, wipe noses, change clothes, make lunch, wipe counters, wipe faces, change diapers, put down for nap, do laundry, do dishes, change diapers, make dinner, wipe counters, wipe faces, put to bed. During all of this I referee 10,000 fights over some toy or some child who does not want to play some game that the other wishes to play. I hear 10,000 mommy I need this, mommy do this, mommy hold you. I feel pulled and torn and lonely. I feel like my life is not profound or noble or useful. But I am reminded that within the day to day, life happens. Minutes turn to hours, hours turn to days, days to weeks, weeks to months, months to years. I may feel like the minutes do not matter. But when my child asks me to hold them and I do, they are being loved. When I wipe noses and butts and counters without complaining my children see the fruits of the spirit. When I respond with patience, even in the midst of extreme circumstances, I am teaching them how to love.

It is humbling and the weight of that job is too much. Thankfully, I am told John 15:5 "I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." When I am daily and every moment abiding in my Lord, I can live this life. And even the ordinary things can become great.

Is Jesus enough?

I was driving the other day and flipped on the Christian music station. A woman was doing an interview with a local band and as I listened to the interview something that the singer said really irked me. The dj told him that his music did not sound Christian. She said it was much more edgy and dance like than other Christian artists. His reply was what did me in. He said that their group really wants to draw in a younger crowd. They are attracted to the music and then they get to share the gospel with them. This made me upset.

Before I tell you why, I want to say that this is something Todd and I have been thinking and talking about for a while. This is not something I am targeting at any one church in particular. I think this is a pretty prevalent thing in Christian culture in general. And when Todd and I have approached this subject with people they tend to get angry and think that we are attacking them or judging them. That is not my intent. I just want us to think about the way we approach sharing the gospel and see if it lines up with scripture.

Here is what I think: We as Christians think that we need something to catch an unbelievers attention. We need to draw them in and then we can share the gospel with them. We need good music, a flashy video, a humorous drama, a charismatic preacher. We need something to catch their eye. We need to be fun, funny, hip and cool. We will not say this, but in essence I think sometimes, some of us think Jesus, alone, is not enough. We cannot simply point to Jesus. Is Jesus enough? Strip away every flashy show we can put on. Take away any of our efforts and ask, do we believe that Jesus has what this unbelieving world needs? Or do we think he needs our help?

Now before you get angry and defensive let me say I think that artist on the radio had good intentions. And I think if you asked him the above questions he would probably say Jesus is enough. I would say that, and you would probably agree with me. But think about the way we talk. I have found myself saying things like draw them in and then share the gospel.

Now I have nothing against a church or a person being relevant to the culture. Obviously scripture gives us clear places where people became like the people they were ministering to in order to share Jesus with them. Obviously if you are a missionary to China you need to speak Chinese. But how often do we package or box up the gospel in order to present it in just the perfect way? Do we miss the holy spirit prodding us to simply point to Jesus because we don't have a perfect package with us at the moment?

What would our Churches look like if on Sunday morning we walked in and the pastor simply read directly from God's word?

Romans 3:10
"As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one.'"

Romans 3:21-24
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the law and prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

What if, instead of trying to prove to our friends that Christians are hip and cool, we simply share with them that there is a reason for hope? There was a man who lived and died and rose again. He did all of this because all of us have sin. Sin eats away at life and separates us from God. Sin destroys and wounds and hurts, but Jesus came to wash away our sins and makes us as white as snow. He came to heal and restore and redeem our very lives. He is what an unbelieving world needs. They do not need better music, better videos, better sermons. They need a savior. And they need someone to show him that savior.

The church (meaning the whole body of Christ) is beautiful. I love the church. I think that the church throughout history and now has done so many wonderful things. The church helps the poor, helps the sick, helps the wounded and broken hearted. The church helps orphans and widows and the lonely. But they do all of this because of the love Christ has for us. The moment one of us does these things or anything else because of any other motivation we have moved away from the calling. (1st Corinthians 13:3)The moment we think that we have anything else this world needs other than Jesus we have missed the calling. There will always be better music, better speakers, better videos, and even nicer people (yes I said that). The world can offer so much more than we can in terms of those things. But what the world does not have is an answer to the longings of the heart. A hope for our sin and brokenness. The church and the body of Christ alone has that answer. The answer is Jesus Christ. He is what we need and he is more than enough.

Hope Won!

I have to say first of all that many of my ideas were sparked by listening to Christian talk radio today and in the days leading up to this election.
Okay so first of all my title of this may be deceiving. No I do not support Barack Obama nor am I elated that he was elected president of the USA, but I was doing some cleaning this afternoon while the kids were napping and flipped on Oprah in the living room. Of course Oprah is ecstatic that Obama won and she was wearing a t-shirt that said, "Hope Won". It made me kind of sick to my stomach. Now I know people are excited and this is a historic moment in time. A black man finally being elected president, but to me it seems like something deeper is going on. Last night as we were watching the news and the election was finally called for Obama they flipped to a rally being held in Obama's honor and I saw people sobbing. Sobbing, from my point of view, probably not just because the first black man was elected, but because this man was elected. It seems like Obama worship to me. I think back to this long election cycle and remember hearing a news paper columnists actually write that Obama was her personal Jesus. It seems like people think Obama is the hope of our world. And that is sad. I genuinely think that his policies and values will take America further down the tubes and that we would have been better off with John McCain as president, but that is not why it is sad to me. What is sad to me is that many people miss the real hope of the world Jesus Christ. Obama is not the hope of the world. Hope did win, but not last night. Hope won over 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ hung on a cross and was resurrected from the dead. Hope will win in the end, but not because of Barack Obama or any policy changes he will make. Hope will win because Jesus Christ will return to this earth and come for his bride, the church! I was very down earlier today and was reminded by listening to Bob Dutko on 103.5 FM of the fact that my hope is not in this world. My hope should be and should remain in Jesus Christ. And he will always win!