Consumption

On Thanksgiving Day we consume food as if we haven’t eaten in a week. For the rest of the weekend we buy stuff with the same ravenous approach we brought to the table on Thursday. Why do we value consumption so much? Maybe I should change the pronouns because I have little or no influence concerning ‘our’ behavior. I do, however, have control over my attitudes and behaviors. You see ‘we’ value consumption because ‘I’ value consumption. I can deride the conspicuous consumption of our culture while I stuff myself at buffets, (or Thanksgiving) and own more stuff than my house and garage can really contain. I can make derogatory comments about the size of a house I see but at the same time if I had the means I might build a house just as big. I can complain about the conspicuous extravagance of church buildings around the country yet I know that I would probably attend the more extravagant church over a warehouse church all other things being equal. There is a fine line between having and using stuff, and worshipping stuff. The bible calls stuff, mammon. It says that it is impossible to worship God and stuff at the same time. It also says that there is no benefit in gaining all the stuff in the world now if we end up spending eternity in hell. I hear my friends in business use the phrase cost/ benefit analysis. I might butcher the concept but it seems to me that if I want to surrender my life to the pursuit of stuff the benefit is the stuff. The cost, however, is eternity in hell separated from God. The alternative is to surrender my life to God as the cost and receive peace in this life and eternity in heaven with Jesus as the benefit. When I see it put this way the choice is so obvious, why then is it so hard?

Missiology 101

Today I saw a website that all kinds of resources on missiology. I wondered why anyone would look to these resources if they had been reading what the word of God said about missiology. I don't think that God's intent for missiology is so biblically obscure that we need volumes written by 'experts' to explain it to the rest of us. Don't get me wrong, the personal study of missiology is a good thing and I know some people whose heart is broken over those who are lost who have made a study of it.

There are two potential problems that can arise when there is an unhealthy focus on the study of missiology. The first is that we create missiological experts which can intimidate (probably unintentionally) the average christian into a missional paralysis because of fear they won't do it right. The second is the we can get so caught up in the study that we lose sight of the action required to accomplish missions. Knowledge of approaches to missions and a variety theologies of missions doesn't mean a thing if we aren't bringing Jesus to our everyday living exposing the people around us to the gospel as exhibited by the hope, love, joy, and grace in our lives.

I guess the bottom line is this if we are spending more time studying what people have written about missiology than we have spent studying scripture concerning missiology I doubt whether we will ever become truly biblically missional. Stated another way: If we can't develop a solid theology of missions from the bible alone, we probably aren't really paying that close of attention to what it says.

What can Followers of Jesus learn from Veterans

Today is veteran's day. A time to honor those who have served, many of whom have suffered, and even given their lives to protect our freedoms and quality of life. When these men and women serve they have no gaurantees that what they are fighting for will be preserved. Those in Iraq and Afganistan today can only hope that their efforts will result in acheiving stated objectives. Much of the success or failure rests on the decisions of beaurocrats who are nowhere near the combat zones. Why then do these men and women volunteer to be put in harm's way? Because they love their country!

Their is a spiritual lesson here. As believers in Jesus Christ we are foot soldiers for the Kingdom of God. We don't use weapons of violence and death. Our weapons are far more powerful. We have the weapons of truth, love, grace and mercy in the Holy Spirit because of Jesus Christ. We also know something our enemy doesn't want others to know, the victory is already won! We still fight battles because the enemy has convinced those who don't believe that they could still achieve ultimate victory.

With this in mind, knowing the victory is won, lets storm the gates of hell with all the weapons at our disposal. Lets take the hill or the city or the neighborhood for the Kingdom of God with the same passion, love, zeal and preparedness that the veterans who have served our nation had.