it really is whats expected of me

i am currently involved in a small group. its a great experience. joining with people on a journey, having people alongside you to ask the questions you have not even thought of, to show you something you didn't know was even there. people to support you, to love you, to inspire you when it seems to hard to do on your own. i really love it. we are currently making our way through a study based around the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. it has been interesting, the discussions have been great because our group comes from a very diverse background, and the places that people are at in their current lives lends itself to a dynamic that could not be manufactured.

there was a scripture reference that we read the other day. it was from the Book of James, which for those that know me are fully aware, its a book that i cherish, i love reading, and re-reading, a re-reading again James. this verse we read i have read several hundred times, i am sure of it. but for what ever reason, the way it was singled out in our discussion, it made me stop and really think it through. its a simple verse, its not something that needs a lot of theological debate about its hidden meaning, because its not hidden. the verse is James 4:17 (TNIV)

So then, if you know the good you ought to do and don’t do it, you sin.


for some reason, it just jumped at me, like a crazy man in the alley with a knife! it came at me and forced me to stop and look at what was happening. you see we all try and be the best we can, we try to behave, we try to be good little boys and girls. we say the right words, we say please and thank you, we hold open doors for people, we help little old ladies cross the street.

but we are responsible for so much more. we have an obligation. there are people hurting and we are ignoring it. we turn a blind eye, because its uncomfortable. its not easy to see poverty, to see homelessness, to see parts of our own communities that we wish weren't there. and we drive out of the way to avoid it. instead of getting dirty and doing what we know we ought to do, we don't do it, and we sin. and that is just locally. that's not even looking at AIDS, poverty, hunger, lack of water around the globe.

and that is just the stuff that is easy to explain, it is almost obvious that we could be doing something in those situations. if it comes down to it, i know that i can donate some money or time to a worthy cause that is helping these things. but what about the stuff that is harder to handle? what about the way we treat people different than us? what about homosexual people who we give a cold shoulder to because we don't really know how to address that. or people who have screwed up their lives and we aren't willing to give them a second (or third or fourth or 18th)chance? what we ought to do is love. we ought to be more concerned about the person, and less about their issues. i am someone who has been given extra chances by people closest to me. and i am forever grateful for it. i was moments from losing everything in my life, and that is not an exaggeration, that is a fact. but people stepped in. and did what they ought to.

this isn't even getting into the fact that Christ goes well beyond giving us our 18th chance, goes beyond what he ought to do. for Christ, he sets the example because for him, its not a discussion of what he ought to do, its what he does. its how we should strive to be. to a point where its not up for debate if we ought to do it or not, we just do what is expected of us.

--aaron
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God is Love...

well, as i sit here at my kitchen table, a home made iced coffee to my left for me to enjoy, a few books to my right for me to enjoy, David Crowder Band's version of "How He Loves Us" playing on my laptop speakers, i have so many things running through my head. thoughts about my family, my kids and how my wife and i can be the best parents for them. thoughts about my wife and how i can be a better husband to her. my career and what that even means anymore. my faith and how i can continue to develop in it.

i am facilitating a small group of young adults and we are journeying through the book "Crazy Love: overwhelmed by a relentless God" by Francis Chan. we are just beginning to meet, but as the leader, i have been studying it for a little while now. its of course fantastic stuff, i have been a francis chan "fan" for a while.

there has been this one passage from the book that i read, and have re-read about 50 times since i first read it. its this thing that seems so basic, so obvious, but its something i needed to hear, and based on me re-reading, have needed to hear again, and again. i am currently in this place of seeking God's leading, i am exploring this tugging on my heart and my mind that i have felt from the Holy Spirit for a little bit now. as i have been exploring the picture that i am confident God is painting before me, some of my very, very human side has crept in, this idea of question God and his power, his wisdom, and if he can truly handle what i am dealing with. that is where this passage from "Crazy Love" comes in. instead of me trying to explain, i will let you read it for yourself, because, frankly, francis chan is a bit more skilled then i am at putting together this thought.

"When I am consumed by my problems --- stressed out about my life, my family, and my job --- i actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important that God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a right to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.

Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.

Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we've been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won't be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God's strength, our problems are small, indeed.

We are we so quick to forget God? Who do we think we are? I find myself relearning this lesson often. Even thought I glimpse God's holiness, I am still dumb enough to forget that life is all about God and not about me at all." -- Francis Chan "Crazy Love" chapter 2 'You Might Not Finish This Chapter'


its to often i find myself consumed with myself, i think we all do. it all seems so big, so much, so important. and what happens? i forsake relationships, i forsake my God, because i am arrogant enough to believe that i am bigger than everything else. as francis chan says in that passage "Who do we think we are?" who do i think i am?

i pray that i am able to continuously see God in all of it, and to rejoice in Him, through it all.

--aaron
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