Re-Create

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.  It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.

-C.S. Lewis

I remember like it was yesterday- I tore through the packaging and un-wrapped my very own, brand new, Desert Eagle replica, battery powered, BB gun.  From its sleek black finish, to the lifelike weight and size, it was everything that the online description made it out to be. I hastily loaded the gun with the plastic BB’s, found some half decent batteries (they’re never included) tore open the screen door and ran into the freedom of blue skies, crabgrass and backyard adventure.  “Finally,” I thought.  It was time to try out my newest toy on the nearest tree or unlucky animal.  Near the creek bank, I heard a rustle in some overgrown, weedy-looking bushes - this is literally every little boys dream. 

I held my breath and waited as an unsuspecting chipmunk scurried into the sunlight.  Our eyes locked.  I pulled the trigger. 

Adrenaline surged through my veins.  Ecstasy.  I watched as the small, yellow BB exploded from the pistol barrel, twisted violently through the air- and fell harmlessly to the ground…no more than 15 feet away from me.  Figures, things are never as good as they’re promised to be. 

I wonder if it’s the same with Christianity.  We all have our expectations.  All of our problems are supposed to disappear, right?  But things are never what they seem.  Still, we keep trying, and our situation just gets worse.  Dreams are still shattered and relationships still disintegrate.  All the while, those typical remedies prescribed by the people we look up to most seem shallow and frankly, don’t work.  We wish that we could’ve given it a test run. 

Hold on.  Are we missing the point entirely?  We use words like “grace,” and “faith,” but do we really have any idea what we’re saying?  After all, who is Jesus and why did He come to earth?  I’ve spent the last 3 years of my life asking myself and you all that very question. The answers vary, and yet they all seem to revolve around one primary idea – “Jesus came to die on the cross for my sins so that I can go to heaven.”  While I certainly agree with this answer, I can’t help but wonder- Is that all there is to Jesus?  Is He just our cosmic problem solver?  Speaking practically, don’t most of our lives boil down to, “I do the ‘right’ stuff and don’t do the ‘wrong’ stuff, so God has to be happy with me.” 

A passage in the Hebrew Scriptures that I haven’t been able to get away from lately speaks directly to this idea of Christianity.  In the book of Isaiah (chapter 58), the prophet warns the Israeli people that their hearts are screwed up.  But it is not for the reasons you’d expect.  In fact, the Israelites seemed to be rather pious at this time.  They “daily seek [God] out, and are eager to know [His] ways.”  They “humble” themselves.  They fast.  Sound familiar?  In fact, sound a little “churchy?”  In Mountain Brook terms, “They have a daily quiet time; go to church on Wednesday, Sunday morning, and Sunday night.  They go to Young Life, to BigTime, join a D-group, and join a Campaigners group.  They pray - alot.  They go to Donna Greene.  They fast (and not just because the lunch room food is bad).”  They are really good, really clean looking folks.

Yet God is upset with the Israelites. They’ve missed the mark.  To the Israelites, religion is something that they do.  It isn’t who they are.  They’ve bought into the dangerous philosophy that they can “twist God’s arm” with their own personal piety.  This is dangerous.  Especially when we obsess over how much we do for God, and yet, we still feel empty.  We really try, and we are really let down.  That thinking can make us angry.  It does make us angry.  It makes me angry.

People are funny.  We refuse to put our faith in Jesus, and then we blame Him for letting us down.

“So what?  I already knew that I was screwed up.  Is there any hope?”  Isaiah shows us that a relationship with God is much deeper, much more robust than we could ever imagine.  Judaism was not God coming to the Israelites and saying, “I’m freeing you from half a millennium of physical slavery in Egypt so that I can give you an entire new set of laws and make you slaves indefinitely in a different way.”  No.  God desired a relationship with the Israelites, and He desires one with us in which He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”  See, Jesus is in the process of reclaiming this world and He wants us to join in with Him.  This is so much bigger than dodging hell!  He asks us to join Him in re-creating the world, not just to sing praise music and hope for the best.  He wants His people to daily “act justly and love mercy (Micah 6:8),” not just go to another small group. 

Re-create.  Not retreat(s).

True Christianity is a long, hard process.  Like a constant flow of water over a rock, it changes everything about you.  It’s slow.  It’s painful.  And it looks nothing like you expect.  Still, Jesus tells us, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.  I am the King who is bringing healing to the entire cosmos.  If – and only if – you repent and believe in me, you will someday enjoy all of the benefits that my kingdom brings.”  He’s here, working now, and He wants us to join with Him.