That has to be exhausting...

So, I have become aware of something that I struggle with.  All this week I have had the amazing opportunity to see how I react "under the microscope."  And while I am not super pleased with what it does inside of me, the reason for the feelings I get when I feel examined has eluded me.  I think perhaps I have cracked the door on a bit of it... maybe this can encourage you as well.

I am an optimist. I really do tend to see the potential in situations.  Often that is at the expense of the reality of what is actually going to happen.  But I love to see things move forward, progress and succeed.  It is inspiring to know that where I am is not where I have to stay.  I can choose to be something more.  And I get that reinforced anytime someone pushes through or overcomes or gets their break. I love that sense that there is still good in the world. It gives me hope.

In the year 2000, M. Night Shymalan came out with a movie entitled "Unbreakable."  The premise of the movie was that this man in the opening scene seems to be able to never get sick and has almost super human strength.  While across town there is a very fragile man that breaks bones very easily.  This fragile man has a theory that in the world there are opposites.  And he searches out this unbreakable man and as the story unfolds.

I think that at least in my particular context, the premise of that movie is true. If I am an optimist that believes in the potential of people, there must be those out there who see the world and everything in it from the downside. The potential train wreck of every situation is their reality.  For these people, everyone is is waiting around to hurt them, to take advantage of them, or to use them to get ahead.  That has to be exhausting!

So let's get back to my epiphany...

When it is me who is under the microscope and I see these folks who are less than optimistic surface and critique, and complain, and try to cause dissension, I am extremely affected.  It hurts - deeply. I am treated as a faceless entity, not a real person with real feelings and a real story who is really just trying to figure out how to make sense of this life.  I am treated as an obstacle, a thing to be questioned, a situation in which someone else must find a loophole in order to bring my "lofty" thoughts or ideas back down to earth.  And how dare I ever think of changing anything - whether that change truly affects another person or not.  That has to be exhausting!

The story of Jonah invites us to see people from God's perspective.  Jonah gets angry that God forgives the Ninevites when they repented. God essentially says to Jonah that He had to do something because there are 120,000 people in Nineveh and cattle besides.  They are full of potential and because God sees them that way we should, too.  

So, do we see people as full of potential? Or are people a problem waiting to happen?

But I still haven't shared my epiphany...

The thing I have realized is that when people see me from the perspective of the non-optistic person, it drains my hope.  Maybe I AM wrong.  Maybe I AM evil.  Maybe I AM never going to be good enough. Maybe I AM all the bad things they say I am. And I leave moments where this perspective is revealed to me about me a little less alive, less willing to love, to risk - less willing to truly live.  And I know that is exhausting!

I want people to leave a conversation with me more alive than when they started.  I want people to see the real beauty of the world and all that it is.  I want people to hope for a better tomorrow than today was.  That isn't exhausting - it gives me life!

I choose to see the wonder of this world. I choose to see the work of the divine all around us.  I choose to invite people to a better tomorrow by being a part of a new resurrection that is bursting forth right in the midst of this one.  I choose to put God's peace on display to the best of my ability in every moment of every day.  My hope is that people are better for having known me.

May you be inspired to see the potential in the world and in those around you. And may it give you life - today and eternally.

Blessed are the Meek...

So, big news for Real Life on the Palouse.  And anytime change happens, people are bound to respond in all kinds of ways.  Please, before you respond to anything that you see in the paper, online, on Facebook, or the rumors that are bound to fly around, read this...

Some times, it is so hard to not "get even."

That person said that one thing that was so mean and out of context.

That thing that was written about you that was so unfair.

People's ignorance seems to know no bounds.  And it hurts - BAD!  Everything in me wants to respond, to lash out, to vindicate myself, my friends, my family, my church.  Certainly God would want me to do that - right?  Of course God wants the truth to stand!  So I MUST retaliate to let the world know what is what!  Or should I?

Jesus makes 9 statements that will change your life.  We call them "The Beatitudes." Not a great title for them, but none the less, that is another topic for another post, another time.

The Beatitudes are what is known as a "Chiasm."  This is a Jewish literary tool that is used often in the Bible to help us find points that God is trying to make.  In a Chiastic structure, the center is the point.

The center of the Beatitudes?  Blessed (Happy) are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.  Mercy is the Jewish point.  Jesus teaches us that our lives should be defined by the mercy we give to other people.  That is tricky, cause that means that people are going to give us reason to not be merciful.  And we will have the desire to extract vengeance - to get even.  To make them pay!

But Jesus is way too brilliant to just use one layer of meaning in His teaching.  The Beatitudes are also linear.  They build on one another.  We start with the poor in spirit being blessed because (literally translated) of them the Kingdom of Heaven is.  then we have the Meek being blessed because they will inherit the earth.

Now, I am not saying that if you act like Jesus is telling you to, then you will get all these buildings and lands and power and status.  Pursuing those things is at the heart of the world's mindset of power and empire.  At the heart of Shalom is peace and contentment regardless of what we have or don't have.

But here is what I think Jesus might actually be saying...  Meekness is defined as power under restraint. And in the order of things, I cannot ever be merciful if I am not first meek.

Here is perhaps one implication... I am not merciful or meek because it is easy or convenient or even because I feel it.  These characteristics are true of me because I choose to up hold and protect the reputation of God first - before I protect myself, my church, my family, my friends.

So, our church is finalizing the purchase of space to meet in for services. Anytime that a church does something like this in a community, there are lots of questions and lots of potential opinions.  Many of those opinions are rooted in fear and ignorance.  And my temptation is to respond, to show them the error of their thinking.  I want to correct them, defend my church, protect something that I care very deeply about.  And to make matters worse, it seems as though these people who say, or write these foolish things treat something so very dear to my heart  as trite and useless.  And it hurts.

So to our church family here at RLOTP... I am begging you to not get sucked into all the things that will be said about what God is up to through our church.  Don't get into a Facebook debate or write letters to the editor or any of the other thousand ways that people are going to try to incite debate and argument that can only serve to hurt what we are trying to accomplish.  Stay the course and stay meek, merciful, and silent.

Jesus has asked us to be merciful and meek.  To me, that means that we don't respond.  We don't get sucked into trying to defend our church and our God from people's ignorance and fear.  We live in an amazing country that gives people the freedom to say whatever they want about whatever they choose.  Please, if you truly care about protecting Real Life as a church and more importantly the reputation of God, keeping your self under control and just being silent is truly the best option.  I believe that we glorify God when we do this.

A quick thanks... To you...

So I have spent the last week in Atlanta working with churches from various backgrounds and histories.  Every church is unique. Every church has a story. They are all different sizes and shapes and leadership is unique and the challenges they face are as vast as they can be.

Here is something that hit me while sitting and visiting with some great people this week.  No matter what story is being told in your church - or my church - we all will face times when we feel like we are swinging at the ball and just hitting air. And in those times it is really easy to give up, quit, love people less, and perhaps lose our love for God and His Kingdom all together.

I want to give all of us a little encouragement. It is simple... Please, for the sake of all that is good, don't quit. And know that when you see that all you are doing feels like vanity, when you feel like you are fighting as hard as you can and you are just taking a beating, don't quit. I was abruptly reminded this week of just how much of an impact those times make on those we lead - even when we don't realize they are watching. They do watch. And they will watch you quit - or not.

Thanks for your service. God sees.  God knows. And God loves you, more than you could ever know.  May your efforts be blessed and multiplied as you serve Him.