Dare To Be In
I had a conversation w/a friend of a pastor of a mega-church the other day. You know the gig. Shepherding the flock Hollywood style w/all the indulgences to boot, 'cause of a culture created to nurture the feel of entitlement due to success. This of course is never audibly mentioned, but remains the mind set none the less.
I guess that I can deal w/this status quo of celebrity pastor, 'cause that's not the thing that really bothers me. The thing that gets me is that this pastor lives a life of duality. There's the pastor persona that fills the pulpit regularly & makes appearances for the sake of the flock, but behind the curtain of this Oz there's a different man. The real man. The man of simplicity & grace that would as readily enjoy a cold 1 & a ballgame w/you as he would the breaking of bread.
This man behind the curtain is not the dark-sided companion of the popular pastor persona that lives to sin & sins to live, but rather is the genuine article beneath the shiny veneer. He may tend to use language that his parishioners would find offensive so he reserves it for the comfort of this haven behind the scenes. He understands the gospel & articulates it well w/words, he unfortunately feels that living it would shatter the image of the polished pastor persona, being too much for some to handle & quite possibly doing permanent damage to the faith of others.
I can't help but feel quite the opposite.
There's a flip side to this coin & that's those that would begin their quest outside the walls of tradition in search of the authenticity that gets lost amidst the hurriedly desperate crusades for holiness. Although the root of this lies in the same dirt as the traditional in regards to intent, something also gets lost along the way & the search no longer is about the quest to be in, but rather to be un. Success is now measured in how unlike we become like so & so, or how untraditional or unconventional we can be.
Again, this leaves those traveling this path empty & hungry for what was left in the dirt of original intent. Our 1st love becomes lost once again, although we took an oath that that wouldn't become what we now see fully reflected in the mirror that we gaze. Obviously having split personalities dependent upon the company that we keep isn't the answer & being the un-anything isn't the answer either. So now what?
How 'bout if we tried to live a life that's main focus isn't being 1 personal in the public arena & another in the private or un-this or un-that. What if we instead chose the in-way. A life that is inclusive, incomprehensible & incredible because it is totally incarnate. A life that's focus isn't to impress God, because it is God by being lived totally inside the ideal of who He is by who He sent.
20Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I don't just think that this is a good idea. I think that this is a command & is what's expected. I don't have the energy to be Public Lee & Private Lee or untraditional Lee & unconventional Lee. God has got to be most glorified in me when I'm most satisfied in Him. There's only 1 way that I know for this to happen & that's to be in touch w/the me that he created & designed for me to be before the foundation of the world was laid. To be incarnate.
Incarnation was not just a 1 time event that happened 2k years ago. It was meant to happen continually as we walk w/Him & transfigure bit by bit into His likeness, becoming more like Him. Incarnation is freedom. Freedom from public personas & private indulgences as well as the un.
So why don't we? Truth is we're scared. We're scared of change, what people will think, what the world will say or whatever. Most importantly & saddest of all we're scared to take God @ His word.
I pray that you're tired of a life of baseless public abstinence or private indulgence or being the un. I would pray that you would listen to that still small voice begging to ask the question. "Are you ready to be in?"
Dare to be in. Slip on the skin of the Glorious One & allow Him to envelope your life. It's the only way for it to become worth living.
I guess that I can deal w/this status quo of celebrity pastor, 'cause that's not the thing that really bothers me. The thing that gets me is that this pastor lives a life of duality. There's the pastor persona that fills the pulpit regularly & makes appearances for the sake of the flock, but behind the curtain of this Oz there's a different man. The real man. The man of simplicity & grace that would as readily enjoy a cold 1 & a ballgame w/you as he would the breaking of bread.
This man behind the curtain is not the dark-sided companion of the popular pastor persona that lives to sin & sins to live, but rather is the genuine article beneath the shiny veneer. He may tend to use language that his parishioners would find offensive so he reserves it for the comfort of this haven behind the scenes. He understands the gospel & articulates it well w/words, he unfortunately feels that living it would shatter the image of the polished pastor persona, being too much for some to handle & quite possibly doing permanent damage to the faith of others.
I can't help but feel quite the opposite.
There's a flip side to this coin & that's those that would begin their quest outside the walls of tradition in search of the authenticity that gets lost amidst the hurriedly desperate crusades for holiness. Although the root of this lies in the same dirt as the traditional in regards to intent, something also gets lost along the way & the search no longer is about the quest to be in, but rather to be un. Success is now measured in how unlike we become like so & so, or how untraditional or unconventional we can be.
Again, this leaves those traveling this path empty & hungry for what was left in the dirt of original intent. Our 1st love becomes lost once again, although we took an oath that that wouldn't become what we now see fully reflected in the mirror that we gaze. Obviously having split personalities dependent upon the company that we keep isn't the answer & being the un-anything isn't the answer either. So now what?
How 'bout if we tried to live a life that's main focus isn't being 1 personal in the public arena & another in the private or un-this or un-that. What if we instead chose the in-way. A life that is inclusive, incomprehensible & incredible because it is totally incarnate. A life that's focus isn't to impress God, because it is God by being lived totally inside the ideal of who He is by who He sent.
20Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I don't just think that this is a good idea. I think that this is a command & is what's expected. I don't have the energy to be Public Lee & Private Lee or untraditional Lee & unconventional Lee. God has got to be most glorified in me when I'm most satisfied in Him. There's only 1 way that I know for this to happen & that's to be in touch w/the me that he created & designed for me to be before the foundation of the world was laid. To be incarnate.
Incarnation was not just a 1 time event that happened 2k years ago. It was meant to happen continually as we walk w/Him & transfigure bit by bit into His likeness, becoming more like Him. Incarnation is freedom. Freedom from public personas & private indulgences as well as the un.
So why don't we? Truth is we're scared. We're scared of change, what people will think, what the world will say or whatever. Most importantly & saddest of all we're scared to take God @ His word.
I pray that you're tired of a life of baseless public abstinence or private indulgence or being the un. I would pray that you would listen to that still small voice begging to ask the question. "Are you ready to be in?"
Dare to be in. Slip on the skin of the Glorious One & allow Him to envelope your life. It's the only way for it to become worth living.
posted by lee at 9:39 AM
1 Comments:
just want you to know I am enjoying reading your posts and wil be back to comment later.
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