Forgiveness

One of the key themes in the story of the prodigal is forgiveness. I'm curious what kind of community would we become if we took this kind of forgiveness seriously? One of the key distinctions of the forgiveness in this story is that the Father does not make the son come to him, rather he takes the initiative and goes to his son. He pursues the son not knowing what he would find when he embraced his son. He risks another rejection, more humiliation, further requests for more money.This is so contrary to how we pursue forgiveness in our culture. We usually wait. . . for them to apologise, to repent, we wait for a sense justice on our part before we forgive them if they satisfy our requirements. In scripture, there is always the burden of those who have found the radical grace and love of Christ to initiate forgiveness regardless of the person and circumstances. But . . .but . . . we say and excuse ourselves because our focus is on the pain they caused us and not Christ. So we continue to live with our pain and fail to release it through the power of forgiveness. Now just imagine what a forgiving community would look like in our culture and dream of the possibilities of reconciled relationships through the love and grace of our Lord and Savior.

The Prodigal

It fascinates me how we read stories. We usually focus in on one main character and develop our ideas and emotions centered on what they say and do. In Luke 15, the prodigal usually draws attention to the younger son, his leaving and then coming back home. But there are 3 main characters, there is the older brother and the father, all significant players in this story. We also read this story from a western point of view and interpret the relationship according to our cultural context. (Ummmm, America did not exist when this was written just in case you forgot) This is how we often navigate stories . . . we become the center, we are the interpretation piece that gives meaning to stories outside of our own. This of course is our basic selfish attitude and mindset that assumes everyone sees and thinks just like us. We then get frustrated with people who think differently because they should know better. I'm curious what it takes to remove ourselves from being the center of our universes? If we are ever going to understand stories beyond ourselves, we must learn to see things differently. Here is the challenge, to read this story with a new set of eyes.

Life Outside of America

It is so easy for us in America to paint ourselves into a corner of our own choosing. Our motto is - don't confuse me with the facts. We enjoy the security of our own illusions of control. Bishop Ndlovu from Zimbabwe will tear those scales from our eyes if we allow him to get close enough. He will speak of incredible oppression and the greater hope that lies in Christ. Zimbabwe faces economic, political and social crises that are so beyond anything we experience in America, yet the Church continues to grow and defy everything we think and live concerning Church growth. They have nothing left but Christ. We have too many default noisy idols that drown out the voice of God. This Sunday we have the opportunity to painfully hear how God is moving in the midst of the devastation in Zimbabwe. May idols fall, may minds become clear and may hearts be healed.

What is Going on with the Church?

Okay, I'm going to vent a bit after a conversation I had with a friend on Thursday. He told me that over the last 6 months they lost 800 people (they were a Church of 2,000) to another Church that is the popular go to Church. I know of 3 other Churches who lost similar numbers to the same Church . . . may I ask why? Has the idea of Church fallen to the god of consumerism that the one with the best show and stuff gets the warm bodies? This study in Acts speaks to so much more than what we experience Church as in 2009. Excite me, inspire me, wow me, get my attention or you will lose me, fix me, make me happy . . . appears to be the endless shopping list of desires that never quite get enough. This of course reduces God and we remove ourselves from the possibilities of transformation. I would love to sit and have a face to face conversation with Jesus and hear exactly what He would have to say about our current trends in "Church circles." Please join this conversation if you like.