I have three things going on in life right now. I am trying to start a very alternative way of doing church in the basement of a bar; I just finished up tiling a bathroom floor - it is beautiful; and I am finally writing again after 6 months of distractions.
And as I reflect on those three significant things, I wonder which will make the most impact in life. The floor will be appreciated by people for years. Will that be the mark I leave behind? And I don't know if it is even possible to create something genuinely alternative for getting to know God. But if it is, and I do it well, will it last? Will it make an impact? And all the writing I have done - what good has it done, is it doing, or will it do in the years to come?
I am haunted by my own insignificance, and yet driven to make a mark - somehow, somewhere, some way. More than anything else, I want to make that mark on the people of God. More than anything else I want that mark to be in the shape of Jesus.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Nailed to the cross
Okay, so we are heading into the Easter season. I have to admit that sometimes it feels like we are just going through the motions of another religious holiday. "Tis the time of year to celebrate and remember Christ's sacrifice." Needless to say, I hate empty ritual.
I got to thinking today about Jesus on the cross, his hands and feet nailed there, as if those iron spikes could keep God from changing the world. I thought about that man who held hammer and nail, just doing his job, thinking that he was nailing another scoundrel for his sins. He didn't know any better.
But what struck me as I thought about Christ on the cross was that he is still there. His hands and feet - now the church - are still not changing the world. We are still there. We are still stuck there, nailed to the wood of our comfortable pews, not making much of an impact. We are dying there, unwilling to actually take what Jesus did and do something in response.
I am ashamed to call myself a Christian. I am ashamed of what we have become as the church. I love Jesus - and I so want to live the difference he has made in my life. But I have to admit that the body of Christ is still hanging there, nailed tight against the wood. When will we start living our faith? When will His body - the church - stop playing religion and start being Christ?
I got to thinking today about Jesus on the cross, his hands and feet nailed there, as if those iron spikes could keep God from changing the world. I thought about that man who held hammer and nail, just doing his job, thinking that he was nailing another scoundrel for his sins. He didn't know any better.
But what struck me as I thought about Christ on the cross was that he is still there. His hands and feet - now the church - are still not changing the world. We are still there. We are still stuck there, nailed to the wood of our comfortable pews, not making much of an impact. We are dying there, unwilling to actually take what Jesus did and do something in response.
I am ashamed to call myself a Christian. I am ashamed of what we have become as the church. I love Jesus - and I so want to live the difference he has made in my life. But I have to admit that the body of Christ is still hanging there, nailed tight against the wood. When will we start living our faith? When will His body - the church - stop playing religion and start being Christ?
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