submission gets a bad rap.
so much of the Christian life involves submission. submission is something we’ve talked about in our married couples bible study, mainly in the context that wives are to submit to their husbands (ephesians 5:22). i cringe when i hear that, and i’m sure most of our society does too. we think it means that women are inferior to men, or less educated or qualified or strong or ________.
submission gets a bad rap.
and it’s a shame, because submission is an honor. submission allows us to fulfill our role as servant. submission allows us to examine our lives and properly aim our focus. when i was in college my youth pastor described submission as an act of “getting underneath or behind” something and pushing it up or forward. like setting a propeller in motion. it is exhausting work, but when you submit, you slowly begin to transfom into God’s likeness.
relationally, the young should submit to their elders, children should submit to their parents, parents to their children. wives should submit to their husbands – yes – but spouses should also submit to each other (ephesians 5:21). and we of course are to submit to Christ. we “get behind” His people and support them, the marginalized and otherwise, which in turn propels and glorifies His work on earth.
in celebration of discipline (gotta love books from the 70’s), richard foster names submission as a core [Christian] discipline. listen to its resulting and ongoing effect:
in submission we are at last free to value other people. their dreams and plans become important to us. we have entered into a new, wonderful, glorious freedom – the freedom to give up our own rights for the good of others. for the first time we can love people unconditionally. we have given up the right to demand that they return our love. no longer do we feel that we have to be treated in a certain way … we discover that it is far better to serve our neighbor than to have our own way.
we cannot submit in the way richard describes until we first walk away from ourselves and our encompassing sin: greed, pride, selfishness, and fear of letting go of our control. but, the result is freedom.
do you know the liberation that comes from giving up your rights? it means you are set free from the seething anger and bitterness you feel when someone doesn’t act toward you the way you think they should. it means you are free to obey Jesus’ command, ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ (matthew 5:44). it means that for the first time you understand how it is possible to surrender the right to retaliate.
mark 8:34 is our cornerstone, where Jesus implores us to do as He has done: “if any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
submission, servanthood, freedom.
if you like bruno mars, read this.
unfortunately i am a sucker for top 40 music, which means i subject myself to droning beats and, the majority of the time, awful lyrics. case in point: #4 song title on itunes? ’sexy and i know it.’
bruno mars has a song (‘it will rain,’ #8 if you must know) where he sings, ‘there’s no religion that can save me.’
at first this line annoyed me. it sounds conceited, and especially stupid when you compare it to what he thinks can save him. but really, he’s 100% right.
religion doesn’t save anyone’s life. religion did not save mine. religion has never comforted me or encouraged me. it’s only ever been a structure around what isn’t by nature structured – spirit, and for me, healing, presence of peace and a lot of other intangibles. but religion seems to get confused with the Person.
i rarely say things in a new or profound way, so when i find someone who does i latch onto it. bryan and i have been listening to andy stanley’s messages online for a couple of years now. leading up to Christmas, he said this:
‘gospel’ actually means ‘good story.’ this is good news for everybody. if there’s anything about the message of Christianity that does not strike you as good news, perhaps somebody has distorted the message of Christianity for you. if there’s anything about the church that in your past and in your history didn’t strike you as good news, perhaps someone has distorted or presented a poor characterization of the church.
when someone says, ‘i’ve got good news!’ the first thing you don’t think is, ‘what am i going to have to do?’ or ‘what is it going to cost me?’ good news means, here comes an opportunity. good news means your life is better. good news means, there’s something you’re not going to have to do that you thought you’d have to do.
if your feelings about God or Jesus or the church are less than [good news], then perhaps somebody hasn’t made it clear.
there are so many people i would like to say these exact words to. family included. the only thing that keeps you from seeing Christ as good news is because of the way that news has been delivered to you, whether broken or only in part. or, if you do think Jesus’ coming, dying and resurrecting is good news, but you’re not allowing it to transform every corner of yourself, then you don’t really think that at all. because it’s not just good. it’s life changing.
you’ve heard it before but let it sink in, and maybe you’ll start walking around like i have been lately – elated with joy for a chance at this temporary sin-filled life. you are seen by God through the lens of Jesus, a perfect, 100% man/100% God Person that came not only to save you – from satan, sin, and yourself – but more importantly to walk with you and to relate to you. to be the ultimate companion in this life and the next, when we will see Him in fullness.
it’s tragic to me, how many people know this news but can’t see it as ‘good.’ i’ll be writing about my recent run-in with learning to be open minded later, but that’s really all i (or anyone else) can ask of you.
consider and be changed, not by religion, but by a Person.
hear andy stanley’s full message here.
beginnings!
this past weekend took me to two new cities: san francisco and phoenix.
that’s not entirely true – i spent eight hours in sf for work in 2009, on california ave on the 32nd floor.
on new year’s eve, i saw my sister in law and drank some bubbly. on new year’s day it was the golden gate and bay bridges, and in phoenix i wore cardinal red and experienced my first bowl game. i was especially humored by all the cactus that is somehow funnier in person (and weighs a ton).
before our trip bryan and i sat down to map out 2012 as best we could. and i decided a few things, partially because i want a more productive year, but also because i’m tired of ignoring these internal nudges that emerge and encourage me to persevere in the following areas:
i will pursue volunteering with a new focus, in an industry that fascinates and excites me (i’m thinking non profit/writing/editing/food & beverage services industries)
i will study and practice spanish with other real live humans (not just my computer) in preparation for our vacation to mexico, but also because i’ve always wanted to
i will blog once a week, and work my way up from there (gulp)
i will read the bible in some sort of organized fashion, to get through the whole thing (haven’t quite worked this one out yet)
we will host a group dinner at least once a month, inviting new friends and neighbors in for good food and conversation
we will tithe – give 10% gross off the top – first. bills and necessities come next, then luxuries
all in a giant effort to become a better rounded, eyes opened, thought and faith-driven person. what are your golden beginnings?
paralyzed.
sometimes i play mental games to the extreme that i paralyze myself (let’s not talk about the fact that this topic actually has something to do with my last post being about SUMMER). do it, don’t do it. take it off the shelf, put it back on. it’s worth it, it costs too much (save your heart the trouble, i tell myself). embrace, shed. let it go, hold onto it. care more, care less (save your heart the trouble, i tell myself). a brace holds me in and tightens up, refusing my spirit of growth.
if i boil it down, i hate to admit that it really comes down to fear, and fear somehow on its own breeds a lot of ugly offspring like insecurity, apathy, selfishness and loneliness. i fear that i will hurt feelings, or am doing the wrong thing, or will be misunderstood. maybe i’ll dig myself deeper and be worse off. or, maybe i’m disregarding God’s will. maybe i am unknowingly stocking up on disappointment and regret.
speaking of regret, it’s been posed to me that perhaps the only tears we shed after this life will be of pure regret, in the first moments of standing in Jesus’ presence, all too aware of what we could have done on this earth but didn’t. a beautiful image when we can rest assured He will wipe them away, but …
this paralysis: i don’t want to give in. i also don’t want to offend. in an effort to stay balanced i don’t extend at all beyond myself. i stand in the same spot as where you maybe last found me, wanting to take a definitive step but just circling instead, trying to choose my direction.
this is uncharacteristic of me and also contrary to what i’m learning. i’m learning anew what it means to walk this life. i’ve been born into a forgiveness that has no room for fear, only joy. i’ve been bought by someone Else’s sweat equity that compares to nothing i could do on my own. the result isn’t timid and it’s not for those who want to just lean against the wall.
life is overwhelming at times, even my little, predictable, precedented life, especially in the context of being a Christ-centered person. but 2012, here in just a week, is full of hope. with a new calendar year i have even more reason to push off the wall and walk in a confident direction gripping not fear, but forgiveness.
and summer arrives.
it took some time, and a bit of traveling, but here we are basking in eighty-something degree weather, trying to define just what ‘mountain air’ smells like (pine? dust?) as we watch the deep pinks fade out of the sky with the last moment of sunset, only to turn around and watch the full moon rise.
i am thankful for the reminder here, that life really is quite simple. a day can be complete with a good cup of coffee, prayer, good conversation, a visit to the farmers’ market and a dip in the lake.
worship.
i bought matt redman’s new album called ‘10,000 reasons’ about a month ago and can’t stop listening to it. along with all the tracks came an excerpt from his first book, ‘mirror ball’ that i thought was so well written, describing worship in a way i had never before considered.
[the life of worship] is a life of wandering and wondering – journeying from scene to scene and taking time to explore the magnificence of God. with the eyes of our hearts fixed upon Jesus we will always be amazed by the things we see. literally always. we will find His splendor, power and love inexhaustibly captivating.
being musically attuned, i had always defined worship as an expected piece of a church service that allows us to speak our gratitude and longing for Him. it would come and then go. but matt doesn’t see it that way:
in our worship of Him, ideally, we should not need warming up or any amount of coaxing. we should be there, ready and waiting, mindful of the many, many reasons there are to praise Him … healthy hearts of worship recognize that there will never be a moment in all eternity when God is not worthy of praise. He looks for a people who, even in the shadows of life, are ready and able to offer up worship.
so worship is not 20 minutes out of your week. it’s ongoing, it’s standing in the wings, ready at any time to be called upon by Jesus. i love that. think how different your worship will look if you approach it this way. heart always at the ready, soul perfectly tuned to heavenly things. what a beautiful way to poise ourselves!
so, in short, buy this album. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/10-000-reasons/id441687303
also, buy the book (i will too). http://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Ball-Living-Shining-Brightly/dp/0781405785
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