Vision Enhanced: God's Kingdom

... for the building of God's kingdom in the city.

This is the "why."  Why I do all of those other things.  Why I do stuff that sometimes feels mundane.  Why I ask others to take steps on this divine adventure with me.

It is because I believe that God's Kingdom is a really good thing.  I believe it is so much better than anything we imagine or strategize for ourselves.  And I believe it is the worthy purpose behind the holistic development of leaders.  The fact is that we aren't guiding people into the fullness of following Jesus if they aren't actively engaged in the growth of God's kingdom.

Plenty of people (Dallas Williard, Tim Keller, many others) have written really wonderful things about God's kingdom, and I heartily encourage you to study up-- at the very least looking at Jesus' own references to the kingdom of God in the Bible. In the very simplest terms, the kingdom of God describes a place where God is king.  It's where things go the way that God says they should.  It is where there is no power or priority above God himself.  The other characteristic that stands out from Jesus' metaphors is that it is a place that's kind of quirky.  He compares it to mustard seed and to farmwork (Mark 4), and he says that prostitutes and tax collectors get in more easily than rich folks (Matthew 19 & 21).  It is not an easy thing to capture or imagine.  At least, not until we experience it.

Where do I experience it in the city?  I see God's kingdom being built when young adults in low-income neighborhoods see that they have something to offer as leaders and mentors to others.  I experience the kingdom when someone steps out and serves in a way that is unique and beautiful to them.  It happens when a church invites its members to walk and pray with God's heart and eyes for their neighborhood.  It happens when a guest at the soup kitchen connects with another human-- whether through a compliment, talking about a shared hobby, or eating a meal together.

I want to see more of those things.  I want less of our kingdoms-- our outcomes -- our strategic plans -- our consultations and trainings even-- and more of God doing the unexpected, quirky, growing, nurturing stuff that happens when he gets to reign and rule in our lives.

Thanks for joining me in unpacking these loaded phrases!  It's been good for me to be regularly reminded of the depth of the work to which I am called.  Hopefully with this as background, stories of ongoing first-hand ministry will make more sense.  I hope to use this as a framework that moves me and our team forward in the months and years to come.  Keep ya posted!

When "out in the world" and "in worship" are the same place

A few weeks ago, I read a devotional that irked me.  It was by a pastor whom I know personally and respect greatly.  However, it left me indignant and angry.  Deeply engaged in urban ministry, he implied that Sunday morning worship is something apart from our time out ministering in a needy world, and he directly wrote of an "out there" (life) and "in here" (sanctuary) dichotomy.

Don't get me wrong: I certainly understand the desire for such a separation.  There are plenty of days when I daydream about a place to worship without human smells or interruptions or assumptions about what I can do to help somebody else.  But isn't that what the Pharisees of Jesus' day had done?  They had made worship and holy practice a means of cutting out the world.  Yet what did Jesus do in response?  He healed people on the day he was just supposed to be contemplating God.  He smashed worship into the life of the real world.  (Or was it vice versa?)  Jesus drew near to God in all times and places, not just in a set-aside place and appointed time.

God's powerful presence is intended for everywhere.  It is for the sanctuary and the prayer meeting.  It is also for the pick-up line and the grocery aisle and the rows of corn.  It is for schools, streets, and sidewalks.  Worship is not just a nice place to kick back and enjoy something pleasantly set apart from our daily lives.  In fact, the prophets warn of God's strong aversion to such a dichotomy:

I, the Lord, hate and despise

your religious celebrations

    and your times of worship.

Amos 5:21

(The context is that Israel is not living in the way of the Lord, blatantly perpetuating injustice right and left, yet they expect their worship and offerings to still please God.  The radical, unique thing about the God of Israel is that he looks at the whole lives of his people, not just one aspect of their behavior.)

So I don't think God is interested in things (or people) being all nice and tidy for a weekly time of worship.  And I don't think that God intends for us to use that time to "armor up" and then go out into the world.  I believe that God invites us to live lives of worship - honoring God with awe, respect, and great humility in all that we do.  I believe that the world needs people who serve "the least of these" in a spirit of worship, knowing that God loves far longer, better, and deeper than we can.  I believe that we need to bring our whole selves and whole lives into the sanctuary with us.  When we check those at the door, we pretend that God doesn't need, accept, or use certain parts of us.

That's my rant.  Real worship is not neat or tidy, no more than any aspect of life, service, or our relationships with God and with others can be tidied up.  Worship was not designed to make you feel nice and peaceful.  (Okay, at a lot of churches it is designed for exactly that purpose.  But that was not God's design!)  Finally, worship is not something "safe!"  It's the almighty God we're talking about!  Things happen when God shows up-- we are changed, challenged, renewed, restored, healed, and so much more.  Worship is a great and wonderful thing, but part of what makes it wonderful is that meeting of God's reality and our reality.  Until Jesus comes back, we're part of BOTH, not one or the other.