7/7 Thursday Thoughts

Excerpt from Spiderman: "with great power, comes great responsibility"

Excerpt from the Bible: "the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" (Luke 12:48)

Because of the striking similarity in idea...I will refer this cohesively as the "Spiderman Gospel"....

The Spiderman Gospel is something I've heard a lot of....especially at Christian conferences that targeted college students with limitless potential....

Sure, it has biblical basis...and is further substantiated by the Parable of the Talents...but will emphasizing this sort of stewardship...encourage us to become performance-based Christians who lose touch with the true Gospel?  Will we become too concerned with gaining an earthly platform to become influential Christians only to be stuck in the rat race?  Will we become obsessed with God doubling our 10 talents?  Or on the opposite end of the spectrum...will we live in fear that God might punish us for burying what he has given us in the ground?

These compelling questions make me want to throw out the Spiderman Gospel.  I think we currently live in an era of Christianity that tells us that it's okay to be mediocre....

But unfortunately...we think it's okay to be mediocre in our spiritual lives as well.  I'm sure many of us know exactly what we need to improve on in our walk with God...but do we feel a burning desire to rectify these issues?  When we know that God wants us to resolve our conflicts with others, do we take that seriously enough to throw down all our pride and do whatever it takes to fix them?  This mediocrity is not acceptable...because while mediocrity by the world's standards is fine, we should live by God's standards and not accept mediocrity...even though we know we're not perfect...

At the end of the day, I can't tell you to disregard the Spiderman Gospel.  I think we WILL be held accountable for what we did or didn't do while on Earth...I don't doubt this one bit...

But as for being performance driven...let us remember the heart of stewardship.  Giving can be difficult...but usually it's because we feel a sense of entitlement to whatever that thing is.  If I realize that all the money I have is because of God in the first place...then it's easy to give.  If I realize that the time and abilities that I have were given to me by God (and can be taken away just as easily), then it's easy to want to use that time and ability to serve him.  So, while great power does come with great responsibility...remember that it came from God and not some radioactive spider bite.

6/30 Thursday Thoughts

According to the Westminster Catechism, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever...

Well, let's just focus on the "enjoy Him forever" part and ask...do you enjoy God now?

The reflex is to say "yes, of course, I do," but are you just thinking about those rare occasions when you really feel a palpable connection with God or when You've just witnessed an answer to your prayers?

I don't know about you...but if you asked my what I enjoy...I'd probably list things like: hanging out with friends, talking to people (especially about relationships), following sports and wrestling, playing video games, etc etc etc.  Essentially, it would be a long list of stuff that may or may not include something directly relating to God...possibly depending on my current life circumstances...

When I'm having a really crappy day...or even if I've had a pretty good day and just want to relax...it is not in my nature to run to God.  To meditate, to pray, to study the Bible.

What's sadder...is that if Jesus himself were waiting for me when I got home...and I had the option of chilling with him or doing one of the other things I enjoy....I might not pick Jesus and just try to have fun doing something else...(Disclaimer: I haven't actually been in this situation, so I'm not sure what I'd do)..

I realize that this is messed up.  But I don't think I'm the only person who would make that choice.

If you could have everything you ever wanted but couldn't have a relationship with God...would you take that deal?  Would you take a relationship with God even if it meant having nothing in life go your way (ie. Job)?

I know which answer to choose...but how come I don't live my life that way?

6/23 Thursday Thoughts

Is it just me...or does your day totally crumble when you don't start it out with a really quality quiet time with God?

For me, this has been excruciatingly evident for the last two years...not because this has been a new problem....but because having my girlfriend observe my life closely...really made my flaws more self-evident.

Usually, we'll talk about our days...and if it was a crappy day, she'll invariably ask "How was your QT?" and I might respond by saying I didn't do it...or I slept through it...or I was just going through the motions...

And it's amazing to me...how the first 30 minutes of my day...really makes or breaks the next 15 hours...

When my time with God is inadequate...I feel unbalanced...I feel ordinary...I feel like I'm getting by on my own strength and ability...which is simply just not enough....

If what I read on Scott's latest blog entry is true, only 16% of Americans read their Bible everyday...which I'm guessing probably isn't much different than the percentage that prays everyday...or the percentage that depends on God daily... (this assumption could be wrong...but whatever!)...that's crazy.  If I'm not the only person who feels totally unfocused when I skip out on genuine fellowship with God...this is an awful statistic.

I'm fearful of what this means for us.  I think about the verse in James Chapter 1 that talks about being like a man who forgets what he looks like as soon as he steps away from the mirror...

Haunting comparison, by the way.  But, I feel like this accurately captures what it's like for us to forego quality time with God...

Without being plugged in to God through prayer and meditation on his Word, I forget who I am.  I forget that I'm his child.  I forget that I'm supposed to be set apart from this world.  I forget that even though I'm weak, He is strong.  I forget that He's never let me down.  I forget that I am His.

6/16 Thursday Thoughts

As I sit here brushing the dust off my computer screen, I contemplate why I depend on my own abilities instead of depending on God (...with the exception of crises).

The humor of that statement is, of course, that without God, I would be nothing but a pile/speck of dust.  The logic being that God breathed life into dust to form man.  Without God, I might be the nuisance on my computer screen (although computers probably wouldn't exist...yeah, I know all about the butterfly effect, smart aleck).

But, that's not obvious to me.  I'm clearly more than a pile of dust.

What IS obvious to me, though, is that I feel the most "plugged in" to God when I'm desperate.  In time of desperation, I pray for God to intervene and I trust that He'll provide because I'd be screwed otherwise.  I might even cut a deal with God to "help me just this time because I can't do it on my own."

And there lies the problem.  If I only depend on God when "I can't do it on my own," I have clearly set myself up to believe that I don't need God when I CAN do it on my own.  As if God views us as a nuisance when we can do it on our own?

For me, the feeling of self-sufficiency definitely hinders me from fully depending on God.  But I'm glad.  Because if I just step back a little bit, I quickly realize how insufficient I am.  I realize how depraved I am.  And when I replace that feeling of self-sufficiency with the feeling of depravity, I feel the beginning of breakthrough.

6/9 Thursday Thoughts

Scattered Thoughts on Christian Living:

It's really hard to have really good accountability.  For me...I have a way of having different friends for different topics of conversations.  With some friends, we talk basketball.  With others, we talk fantasy football.  Also, relationships (or gossip about other people's relationships).  It seems like I even have certain friends who I go to when I want to complain about a sermon or something a Christian group is doing wrong...

But in all of this...who do I go to to bear my soul to?...to share my sins with?

I feel like throughout the years, I've had many accountability partners.  And I'm grateful for the dudes who have taken on that task.  But as I get older, it gets harder to reach out to someone else and ask them to make sure I'm really living my life in a way that glorifies God.  But why is that?

Is it because I have a hard time pinpointing people who live that Godly life I want?  Or is it because I feel so un-Godly that I don't want them knowing how often I fail?

It's obvious that many Christian men...lose accountability as they get older.  They leave structures (ie youth groups) that had clear mentor-mentee; discipler-disciple relationships.  And then just become "men" with no checks and balances.  For some, they will marry women who will take on this role, BUT if I'm these women...I'm hoping that there's some other dude out there who's shares this burden of helping the man hold onto God.

There are a lot of issues that prevent solid accountability partners...many are logistical...others are prideful....

But next time we see each other...let's cut the crap.  When I die and stand before God's judgment seat, it won't be relevant that we talked about sports or girls....but maybe....just maybe...our conversation about my walk with God...really helped me love God more than I had before.