In Dave's Words

Lord…

Help me to be firm without being immovable.

Help me to take risks without being reckless.

Help me to be sensitive without being hyper-sensitive.

Help me to be confident without being arrogant.

Help me to be sure without thinking I can never be wrong.

Help me to empower others without abdicating my responsibilities.

Help me to be excellent without thinking I need to do it all myself.

Help me to take responsibility without taking ownership.

Help me to be wise without thinking I am wiser than anyone else.

Help me to first give the benefit of the doubt without prejudice that come from stereotyping.

Help me to always show grace and understanding without criticism or judgment.

Help me to listen and understand without being naïve.

Help me to never speak negatively about others without first speaking to them.

Help me to serve with other leaders without comparing the results of my work to theirs.

Help me to be an example without the motive of being noticed as an example.

Help me to shut my mouth so I can be frustrated without gossip and slander.

Help me with Your perspective because there is always one I don’t see.

Help me to know what you expect of me so I can care less about the expectations of others.

Help me to serve while knowing I will be often treated like a servant.

Help me to always be open to and learn from criticism regardless of the motive of the one giving it.  

Help me to not subtly influence people to think better of me by influencing what they think of someone else.  

Help me to handle “success” with humility and “failure” with grace and determination.

 Most of all…so I can be this kind of servant…empower me to seek Your face more and to more reflect Your image to a world so desperate to see it.

One of the symptoms of being a news and history junkie is that I’m constantly reminded how dangerous religion has been and still is. History, as well as our global current events, leave us with plenty reason why people should run away from religion. Wars, abuse, terrorism, materialism, hatred, intolerance (and I use that word carefully) are all justified with religious convictions.

Over this past weekend…I had cause to look at 2 Cor. 3:16-18. Just as Jesus summerized all of the laws of the Prophets with, “Love the Lord your God…and Love your neighbor (Matt 22)” Paul makes all of spiritual things bonehead simple for those of us that need the basics.

“…whenever someone turns to the Lord the veil is taken away…so all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord…and the Lord makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

It’s just that simple…to see and to reflect the Glory of the Lord. To get in His face and then reflect that face. To experience His love and then to demonstrate that love. To know Him and make Him known. Over and over to see and reflect.

If you are ever wondering around in your faith…looking for the way in which your religion or denomination or church would have you live out the “extra stuff”…simply get into His presence and then just get on with life in whatever way you feel most led. Be consumed not with how to appropriate your religion…be consumed with loving Jesus and then do whatever your spirit lead you to do.  

The world doesn’t need more of religion…the world needs more of the Church…but only when the Church has more of Jesus.

According to Matthew 7 it’s possible that we could one day show up in Heaven, after living a life that revives the church and transforms the world, and still have God look at me and say, “I’m sorry…what’s your name again? I don’t know you.”

Apparently…many will get there one day and say… “Wait a minute…we preached in your name…we cast out demons in your name…and we preformed miracles in your name.” But He will reply with… “I never knew you.”

It’s so easy to confuse work for God with walking with God. Its so tempting to seek the work of His hands and not the glory of His face. I’m guilty of the dangerous subtlety of paying attention to the work of God while ignoring Him.

The fear that one day He will look at me and say, “Sorry…what’s your name again?” drives me to my knee in the pursuit of intimacy with Him. I guess that is the most healthy fear possible.

There are so many possible responses when we are confronted with the reality of Jesus Christ. Since he walked on the dust he created, people have either been drawn to him or repelled by him. In the first of four accounts of his birth Matthew makes a point of talking about the scholars who travelled from the east to find the new King. Matthew doesn’t really tell us much about this band of scholars, other than they were scholars and they were from the east…at place known for mystical and strange philosophies.

I love what these eastern academics say was the purpose of their pilgrimage. Even though their very occupation would suggest that the reason they headed west was to study the reason for the strangely bright star, they state that their mission was to worship him. For those who make their living out of thinking, the reason for this trip was to worship. They didn’t come to understand, but to worship. The Message states it this way, “We’re on a pilgrimage to worship him.”

What a great statement of life’s mission. We are on a pilgrimage to worship him. The reality of Jesus has been studied long before and long after he was here. People still try to understand who he was, examine that words he spoke, ponder if he was more than a wise man or religious figure. He has been studied, examined, and scrutinized.  His words have been parsed, interpreted, contextualized, and applied. However, he was really meant to be worshiped. This life is meant to be a pilgrimage of worship.

With our songs, prayers, art, time and treasure we are on a pilgrimage to worship him. With our actions and lifestyle we are a pilgrimage to worship him. Whether we dig ditches, drive a taxi, or pour concrete we are a pilgrimage to worship him. Whether we manage people, teach university students or perform brain surgery, we are on a pilgrimage to worship him. Waking up each day on this pilgrimage brings purpose to everything we put our hands and hearts to.  

Combine passion, focus and zeal with only slightly misappropriated leadership and you can so quickly have contemporary Pharisees and legalism. Any time we take our experiences and perspectives and turn them into formulas or expectations for other people, we take over the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of other people…all-the-while using our interpretation of scripture as justification.  There is a razor fine line between using the gift of prophesy, holding out the expectations of God, and turning it into today’s version of Pharisees, prescribing how to live out God’s expectations.

Any time we encounter a persuasive and charismatic leader who has applied scripture (to their context) in a way that looks like success, the first thing we do is try to copy their extra-biblical actions in the same way they did. Out of a very right motive to be effective, we very wrongly make a formula out of our experiences or that of others. And the moment we do that, we assume the role of the Holy Spirit. When something “works” for us, we then presume to prescribe how much money people should give, how people should use their time, how people should pray or worship, who people should spend their time with, how to raise their children and the list could go on and on. You can smell a Pharisee a mile away by the stench of constant criticism on their lips.   

The problem goes waaayyy back. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. (Matt 23)

Do we as leaders trust the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of other followers? Do I really think that He really needs me to change the hearts of people who are not living the way I think they should live? Am I that full of pride that I think I can talk or convince people to change? Am I that self-centered that I don’t assume that the Holy Spirit is working in people on issues that He wants to change rather than behavior that I think they should change? Wouldn’t I be a lot more free and void of unnecessary stress if I really trusted that the Holy Spirit is doing a fine job of changing people without my help in my time?

Unfortunately for me…and those around me…I relate a whole lot more to the religious leaders than the woman at the well; to that oldest son instead of the prodigal. I am terrified at the thought, after a career of “ministry”, to one day hear, “I never knew you.” (Matt 7) I suppose that it’s a good fear.