the drum|rob fairbanks

Move It! ‘Cause you really ‘ought to

    There is something heartfelt and immediately piercing about praising God with
movement. There is a part of ourselves, our physicality, that we have neglected in our
worship. And because of it we have lost touch with our emotional souls; our movement
and our emotions are intricately linked. It is hard to lie and keep the world out when you
are engaged in authentic movement. I have found that some of my most honest and
vulnerable moments have been when I have used movement as a form of worship.
    Our bodies, our movements, I think, are that last piece in our worship; the piece
that connects it all together. I cannot express how freeing it is to use dance and
movement to pray and worship God, and at the same time, I cannot express how hard it
was to get to that place. It is not natural for us to be open and vulnerable with each
other. It is not natural to be uninhibited in our emotion and movement. So we have
learned to worship unnaturally: keeping everything inside locked up tight. But I don’t
think God wants us to worship only with our voices; I think we glorify Him most when we
are authentic and honest with each other. And I think that we could do that better if we
all learned to move a little more; to dance a little more. David danced, after all, as did
Jesus. So why can’t we?

Zach

Joyfully Removed

    The Western church is no longer center stage in modern culture, and as we are shunted aside it seems reasonable to think that becoming more like the world will entice more people into our buildings. Then I come upon Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Hold up, what?! Blessed are who? It might be a small stretch to equate marginalization and persecution, but I am beginning to think that being pushed out of mainstream culture could be the best thing that has happened to the body of Christ today.

    In his book The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch points to the church in two different times and geographic areas, the early Christian body and the underground church in China. Both of these groups of believers became vibrant and large communities during harsh and unrelenting periods of persecution. Hirsch sees that “Persecution drove both the early Christian movement and the Chinese church to discover their truest nature as an apostolic people” and it “acted as a means to keep these movements true to their faith and reliant on God.”

    But how did these communities turn persecution to power to promote the Kingdom of God? James calls out from the Word, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Think about that for a minute. This isn’t telling us to tolerate trouble or to “grin and bear it”, but instead be joyful in it—have a deep, indescribable emotion welling up in us whenever we face trials because of faith in the Lord Jesus. What if, instead of pushing back as we are pushed aside or fearing persecution for our faith, the Western church opened ourselves to the possibility of being collectively JOYFUL? How much more would we be able to point the way to the Kingdom of God if our joy in all situations shone through? Something attracted millions of converts in the early and Chinese churches. Maybe this joy in persecution promised to us by our living Savior can be the way we truly live into our calling as a missional and sent church. Maybe this strange joy from hardship can revitalize us and help us be the instrument and foretaste of the Kingdom we were meant to be for the world.

Kate

Irresistible Holiness

One of the most befuddling (when I say befuddling, I mean I just can’t figure it out) things about Christianity for me is the juxtaposition between Jesus’ holy and our holy.  When Jesus, the most holy and pure person ever, rubbed shoulders with the non-religious (“sinners”) they were amazingly attracted to him, but when most Christians come in contact with the non-religious (“sinners”) there are adverse reactions.  You’ve seen the reactions toward Christians – they are haters, homophobes, judgmental, bound up – all reactions to Christians trying their level best to be…you got it, holy.

There is consistent and strong evidence that suggests that most people still find Jesus incredible attractive, at least intriguing.  The evidence is even stronger that people don’t find Christians that way. Christ followers are to be holy yes, but there must be something different in the balance here.

In 1953, C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter:

“How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.” 

Irresistible?  That might be worth rediscovering.

I believe that there must be a reorientation of our understanding of holiness.  Instead of an externalized “we have to look or act a certain way” type (usually a form created by some ecclesial authority), I really believe that we must look carefully at what our model, Jesus portrayed for us.

Here are a few ideas that might help:

1)    Never react

You have heard the saying, “Never let them see you sweat.” Well, I don’t want to be disingenuous, but it would serve us well to move away from our own reactive posture. One reaction generates another. I have made an internal vow that I will never react to someone else’s behavior, regardless if I am in agreement with it or not. I could be just freaking out inside, but on the outside, I want to behave and act with love and honor toward whomever I run across.  Why? See #2.

2)    Recognize the Imago Dei

Ever person you see, every man or woman you lock eyes with was created uniquely in God’s image. Sin has certainly injured that, but there is still a deeply embedded dignity, ontology worth…even in the worst of the worst (although how does a scale on this stuff really work when each of us have sinned enough to draw the holy Jesus to a cross?). The Imago Dei actually has profound implications if we can live into its truth. We can treat people different, with honor beyond what their behavior might warrant, because of who they are, not what they’ve done or are doing.

3)    Learn about humility

Part of the reaction Christianity gets is because of its desire for control and power. I know, you may not see it this way, but think about this.  Why do people get mad or reactive? Answer: Because something is being taken from them. For many, I might say, most Christians, believe that our country was started as a Christian nation (debatable, but not at this time) and feel like it is being hi-jacked by _________________ (you feel in the blank).  The upshot of this is a reactive posture toward culture.  Need I remind you that our battle isn’t against flesh and blood (Ephes 6)?

4)    Spend time pondering the Gospels

This is really the main reason I think there has been a “red letter” (reading Jesus' words, as opposed to Paul, et al) shift in many people view of Scripture.  We need to read the Gospels slowly, read them often, and read them believing. I read years ago in a Eugene Peterson book (from Eat This Book) that we are to read Scripture meditatively.  He described this notion with an ancient analogy. He said the idea of meditating on Scripture was liken to a dog gnawing in a bone. If you have ever seen that, the visual image lurches out at you. A dog tirelessly grinds on a bone in a hundred different directions, seeking to mine out every possible prospect of meaty goodness (you gotta think like a dog to really get it – ok, just like me eating a T-bone steak). When was the last time you meditated on Jesus’ life found in the Gospels? There is something captivating and reorienting about Jesus…how he lived, what he said, how he responded, how he showed compassion…

and yes, how he was holy.

Question: Have you ever been injured by Christians (or the church) trying to be "holy?"

Galatians 6:9

posted by allie

Tim Tebow: Separation of Church and Life

By Peter

Well I figure that I might as well go ahead and write about the most provocative figures in the country today even though I know more than enough has been said about him already and much more is sure to come.  I just can’t get over how polarizing he is and how obsessed the media has been in creating and fueling the never-ending debates we see or hear about everywhere we go.  Everyone seems to have been sucked into it.  Last week at church the topic was prayer and images we associate with it.  Of course the picture of you-know-who was in there.  More than 42 million people watched Sunday’s game and there were over 9,000 tweets per second about it during and after the game ended.  People are now growing weary of the ridiculous attention he has been getting and wish that there could just be a separation of church and game. 

While I agree that all the commotion is getting a bit overwhelming, I can’t help but be amazed at how this simple act of public prayer and attributing everything he does to God has stirred up this attention.  There are plenty of athletes out there who pray and speak about their faith publicly but for some reason this guy is different.  I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, namely the actual job he does and the exciting finishes that somehow keep happening. 

A lot of people might criticize him for praying ‘on the street corner’ and being too public about his faith but when Jesus criticized the Pharisees for this it was for being hypocritical and for doing it just to gain attention.  I can’t say for sure that all the attention isn’t perpetuating him further but I do know that he had this faith and prayer habits before getting all the national attention and that his behavior off the field backs up what he is preaching.  (If you are curious you should read Rick Reilly’s recent article about what happens after every game).  I also know that in our culture we really like to separate our work from our play and especially from our religion or faith.  Everything has its place.  Well here we have on the nation’s stage a guy who refuses to categorize his life but lets his faith form his identity, no matter how much criticism he gets for it.

Being Grateful

Do you have to "feel" grateful or is it a gesture of the will?

If it is a “feel” thing, than I may be in trouble this year - this Thanksgiving.  It is not that there are not ample reasons to feel grateful, but for some reason I am quite flat.  It might be the weather!  Everyone knows how much I despise the cold.  That’s right!  I despise it.  It could be the late light in the morning and early dark at night here in the north.  Regardless, I am, as my therapist wife would say, non-affective (as in unemotional...not the disorder).

I am, however, not persuaded that being grateful is as much “feeling” as it is discipline.  Not the arduous type, but simply a choice.  Paul wrote, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Col 3:15) Regardless of how I feel (and you may be in the same place), I still can be thankful.  I still can intentionally count the things in my life, whether in consolation or desolation, that are gifts.  And when I say gifts, I mean something that I can trace back to God’s gracious life toward me.

Ok, here is what we as a family have always done and I would encourage you try it.  It is called the “Thankful Game.”  Simply complete the statement, “I am thankful for (or because)…”

…my always encouraging and supportive wife.  She is beautiful in everyway.  A miracle that she loves crazy me!

…the children God has giving me to love, protect and disciple.

…the warmth of consistent, enduring and loving friends.

…sweet 3 point jumpers (I had to throw that in).

…um, um, ok, the colder days as it gives seasonal variety to life (ouch, that one was hard to get out).

…beautiful art and music.

…my amusing and creative son-in-law.

…a community of faith that has challenged, loved, held and supported me for 20 years.

I could go on...really!  Even though I don't "feel" like it, I still can exercise the gift of choice.  The amazing thing that happens when you do apply this is you actually start to recollective the emotion of thankfulness.  I think it has something to do with Jesus' words about "...where your treasure is, there your heart (emotions) will follow."  Anyway...

Think about this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe…” Hebrews 12:28