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If you’ve been involved in this thing called leadership for any length of time (including reading leadership books, attending seminars/conferences, mentor/ee activities, etc.) you’ve heard someone say, “You’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing!”  In other words, our priorities should be reflected in everything we do.  Much of my life as a Christian, I’ve worked/talked/sometimes prayed hard to find out what the main thing is about life.  I would find a piece of life and say, “This is it! This is what Christianity is all about.”  This would cause me to say phrases like, “That’s what I’m talking about!” whenever I heard someone who also discovered the main thing.

So what is the main thing? Unfortunately (well, actually, it is fortunate), I don’t have an answer.  The sharper edges of life (like marriage and learning about poverty) have revealed to me how there is no single thing I can count on as the thing - just a lot of little things, big things, and things I’d hardly even call things making up the whole.  Clear as mud?  Keep reading Luke 9:

If any of you are ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  (v. 26)

Earlier today, I read a sign advertising a local church.  It read, “Focusing on the red letter teachings of Jesus.”  Being the obstinate type, I thought, “What about the rest of the Bible?”  Is it not true Jesus is revealed not only in the red letters, but also in the black ones?  Pinning Jesus down to a portion of text like this, or to a cause, or a specific idea/activity is to objectify Him.  Doing this, we are trying to find the main thing. Jesus, however, is more than a thing - and no part of His life can be separated from His personality and still retain it’s meaning.  I suppose you could say this following thing is about becoming more like Jesus and less like ourselves - this makes what we do meaningful because it actually changes lives and reveals God.

Worship without Christ is shallow and campy. Yes, standing around singing songs reminds me of campfires and marshmallows unless we sing to a King who lives and demands total worship with our whole lives.

Prayer without Christ is positive thinking. Positive thinking is great until something negative happens.  Real prayer that understands Christ and His life, death, and new life changes reality - even the bad parts of it.

Relationship without Christ is self-centered. Friendship is cool, but most of us choose friends who make us feel good and remind us of ourselves.  Jesus loves every one of us even when we oppose Him - He gave Himself to give us real relationship and community - even with our enemies.

Spirituality without Christ is therapy. Scented candles, cute devotionals, coffee/chai, and “quiet time” won’t offer us anything more than warm feelings unless we encounter Christ and allow our life to conform to His.

Social justice without Christ is community service. Community service is the kind of thing you do 1) when you’ve been punished; or 2) when you want to improve your image (very political).  Apart from Christ, our motivations are unavoidably shallow at some point - and this only makes the world even more unjust - our own interests getting in the way of others.

Outreach without Christ is recruiting. Lots of people think churches just want members so they can get more money and do more fun Christian stuff (like have a lame singing group come in on Sunday night).  A lot of these people are right.  Instead, our hands should be reaching because Christ reached us and is still seeking those (just within our grasp) He’s called to join His Kingdom.

You see, this is not about us.  This is about Christ.  To live for ourselves is to be ashamed of Him as though we wish He wouldn’t say “Hi” if He saw us somewhere - even if He saw us serving.

• Why do you serve others?
• Do you bring real hope to them or are you offering shallow remedies?
• Heaven is for people who want to be there and worship the King of justice, peace, and righteousness.  Is this you?

Over the last few weeks (Ok, more like the last year!) Ruth and I have been seeking God for wisdom and direction for our future. We’ve always wanted to live our lives for Christ and His Kingdom, but just now we are beginning to understand what that even means. We’ve also realized that talking about the Kingdom is entirely different from actually living there. The opportunity has just been extended to us to join a new ministry and to (for lack of better terminology) get up to our neck in the Kingdom serving and loving people. We’ve been praying a lot, fasting, and kicking around pros and cons. It’s been a real gut-check and has helped me see just how far from the Kingdom of God I’ve been living. In fact, you could say the Kingdom has been like… say… Florida to me. It’s a great place to visit, but nowhere I’d ever call home. Well, now we’re moving to Florida (not really moving to Florida… metaphor…) and it’s scary. Truth is, though, is there any other place I’d rather call home than the Kingdom of God. In The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard calls the Kingdom of God “the effective range of God’s will.” This Kingdom (where Jesus is King) is one where selflessness is the standard, the greatest people are servants, and the the poor and needy among us are being sought fervently by Christ. I’m beginning to see the Kingdom of God much less like a city or place and more like a road trip - and we’ve been invited to come along!

So… in the words of my incredible wife, “It’s been all about me for long enough!” Looking forward into this kind of future (more work?, less money?, more meaning?…) is still a bit unnerving. I’ve even wondered if Ruth and I would even survive in the Kingdom of God. I’ve been asking questions like…

“Are we suited for on earth as it is in heaven?”

“Does my heart yearn for Christ to be made known at any cost for the sake of redeeming those that He is seeking?

“Are we ready to love people even when it hurts us?”

The resounding answer… No.

Yeah. We are not willing, we are not ready, and we would rather stay home - but still the Lord calls. The self-centered people that we have been will not survive in the alleys and streets we are being called to take up residence in the Kingdom of God - at least not if we stay the same. It’s time to change. It’s time to stop surviving and to start thriving (right, like it’s that easy and it’s seriously going to rhyme like that). This is what I know - Jesus said…

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

[Luke 9:23-24]

Surviving is no longer the objective. We are left with only one choice: Die.

As I’ve been learning to draw lines or boundaries in my life that enable me to be my best and maintain focus on what really matters one change I’ve made is setting aside Saturdays as a complete sabbath day. Yesterday was the second consecutive “free Saturday” that I’ve enjoyed and I am loving it! While it’s only been a couple of weeks, I think a tradition or routine is forming - long walks with Samuel. These past two weeks I’ve been able to pop Sam in the jogging stroller, put on my headphones and walk, pray, think, meditate, and point out airplanes while Ruth gets some valuable time to herself. This week, as we strolled down our street near the end of our walk I looked up and had a moment of clarity about… trees. Much of my prayer life and passions in thought recently have been around the idea of “changing the world”. As I looked up at the trees yesterday, I felt as though God was saying, “Look at the trees, they change the world!” What does that mean? I thought. Then it was clear: trees lose their leaves every year and the world changes. They do their part each year by losing what they have. Another theme in my prayer life recently has been the phrase, “Give Yourself Away” (also the title to the new album by Robbie Seay Band which I love). Here’s the connection - I can find my purpose by losing myself or by giving myself away. This is how you change the world - not with what you have, but with what you give. Jesus Christ gave everything and changed the world. We’re called to do the same. The trees give themselves away and are blessed in the Spring to give again. Many of us may be struggling to find our purpose or how we can “make a dent” in this world because we’re not willing to lose something - we need to trust that Spring will come if we’ll just keep giving.