Busy Building Kingdoms.

Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of listening to a Catalyst Leader podcast (here) with Derwin Gray on high definition leadership. Did you know he was an NFL player and now he leads one of the fastest growing churches in America? I love that. Anyhow, I came away learning more about myself as a Christ follower then I did as a leader. I also learned that effective following is, in essence, the humility of leadership.

He posed a question at the start that both crushed and quenched my soul in one fell swoop.

...Is Jesus enough?

This stopped me in my tracks. Deer in the headlights stopped. Why? Because at the same time I was interrupted by this bombshell of a question, I was also trying to create a color coded list of tasks I needed to accomplish in the next 24 hours, eat my lunch, ponder the next steps of a project at work and listen to this podcast. It occurred to me that I am busy cluttering my life with getting ahead, and they're good things, but they aren't God things.

Don't get me wrong. The blessings of Christ are to be treasured. I love my new job, I absolutely adore my friends, I have a home to call my own, I get to travel often. But these gifts shouldn't fulfill me. If these things aren't rooted in Christ, they will always feel temporal. And, let's be honest here. I'm human, so of course these things validate my feelings sometimes. That's why people always want the  best thing, why we follow the next trending topic, why the approval of others seems to reassure us who we are. They're all good things. But, they're not necessarily God things. And when I seek approval outside of Jesus, it's almost as if to say..."I'mma let you finish God, but, [fill in the blank] is the greatest of all time." (I regret that I just made a Kanye West reference...I'm not keen on him, but I  digress.) There isn't a person, place or experience outside of His domain that will ever satisfy the human heart the way that only Christ can. He is enough. Sometimes, we miss that because we're about the business of building up our own kingdoms instead of his.

I listened with singular focus for the duration of the interview and pulled out another gem that was so conveniently mic-dropped near the end.

"What does it look like to follow Jesus? [That answer] allows me to lead [as a servant] from the overflow of His life and ministry."

In my own life, I've decided it takes on a few tangible forms.

First. Knowing Jesus.
I know, I know. Seems basic, huh? But, I can't very well lead like Jesus if I don't first understand who He is. He is the I am, and he is our friend but, as I spend more time in the Scriptures this year, I'm peeling away layers of God I've never seen before. Reading through Genesis and Exodus, I've seen His hand in the background of so many stories that I always read differently before.

Second. Decompartmentalize.
When I lose conscious awareness of my nature to put things in a checkbox or on a Google calendar alert, I forget that the Spirit inside of me and the Lord of my life take up all of the available space, no matter what I do, who I'm with, or where I go. My life isn't meant to be experienced as work life, home life, Church on Sunday life, family life, etc. Those are all obligations, but they all weave into the same tapestry of my life as a whole, where Jesus is ever-present.

Third. Old ways don't open new doors.
There was a time I was immersed in full-time ministry. It is the most challenging, humbling and beautiful thing I have ever been called to in my entire life. There are seasons to this day where my heart yearns for it. But, old ways won't open new doors. Regardless of the path the Lord would have me on or what that looks like, I have begun to shift my paradigm. Leadership is not equivocal to a seat at the table, or as Hamilton might say "being in the room where it happens." Leadership is simply loving Christ's church, i.e. his people. If I get that right, then whatever doors open are going to result in productive Kingdom work...because I'm not who I was. 

Leadership begins with humility in following the example of Christ. Let your character be rewarded and allow it to precede your spiritual gifts. It's a lesson I'll be ever chasing, but as He becomes greater, I concede to become less. In this way, Jesus can take his rightful place in my life. And He is enough for me. 

Footnote: Check out a song called "Presence, Power, Glory" by CitiPointe Live feat. Becky Lewis. It speaks to the throne of Jesus in our lives. And Becky Lewis' character precedes her phenomenal musical gift. 

Who are you, Jesus?

During this season of Advent, Christians take time to reflect, meditate on and celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is a time to rejoice over the fact that a baby in a manger, became the Saviour of humanity. It makes me think of a passage in Philippians 2:

(Jesus Christ) Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name...

I've always considered that passage as one that reminds me who I should strive to be as a Christian. In fact, verse 5 actually says, "have the same mindset as that of Jesus Christ." I'm supposed to be mindful of the position that Jesus took during his tenure here on earth. But, here's what I've always missed...

This passage describes Jesus' mindset. Not just how mine should be.

In my advent devotional (here: real.life/women), I was caught off guard with the idea that the Bible isn't about me. Sounds pretty obvious...ask any five year old and chances are they'll tell you it's about Jesus...duh. We refer to it as our instruction manual for life and in certain ways, it is. But the original manuscripts weren't written for that.

They were written to give a first-hand account to the life and story of Jesus.

The gospel writer and doctor Luke was an examiner. His account regarding the life of Christ is often described as factual, logical sequential. It's what I might equate to modern day "non-fiction." No hyperbole, no fluff...just what He observed about Jesus. In it, we read in Luke 2 about the foretelling of the birth in Bethlehem. But, as my advent story points out, it's not about the city of Bethlehem. In the Old Testament, the prophet Micah talks about the Israelites. But it wasn't about them or victory over their enemies. That place and those people have significance in the Bible only because of... you guessed it, Jesus.

So many times, countless times really, I catch myself choosing a passage or book that I like during my quiet times. I read it because it makes me feel good. I read it because I'm familiar with it. I read it because it's simple. I thumb through the concordance in my study Bible and pick out verses based on whatever mood I'm in or trial I'm facing. And all of these are not inherently bad. But, it misses the mark.

I might feel good reading a certain passage, but only because Jesus makes it good.

Being familiar with Scripture is important, but reciting and memorizing them is moot if I miss the Who they're ultimately about.

It's good to simplify Scriptures and be able to recall them when we need to, but we should never equate that with simplifying Jesus.

Topical scriptures are helpful, but we shouldn't miss the content or purpose of a whole passage, epistle or book...about Jesus.

See, all of those things I do for me start with Jesus. With his story. With who He is. With what He's done and who He has called me to be. But, in my mind they started with me. My need. My want. My desire.

The Bible isn't about me. 

All of the things I want it to tell me about hope, love, loss, pain, suffering, grace, mercy and redemption begin and end with Jesus. Don't miss that, friends.

Jesus came to earth in the most unglorified way I think he could have...in a manger, born to a virgin and son of a carpenter, not of earthly royalty or position. Yet, He is  ascended to the highest place after counting and paying the cost for our lives on the cross.

Advent is a time to remember the birth of the Savior. I don't want to miss that. Not now, not ever. I don't ever want to reduce the Bible to another book. I don't want my relationship with Him reduced to a conditional place. I don't want my prayers to become requests to a magic lamp (although I do love Aladdin, btw.)

I don't ever want to miss the gift of communication with Jesus. The gift of rest in His arms when I'm worn. The gift of serving His kingdom. The gift of worship in His name and for His glory alone. The gift of community that He is at the center of every day. The gift of His story. The gift of His birth and yeah, even His death.

I share all of this with you because I don't want you to miss Jesus, either. When you read the Bible, re-read it until you see Jesus, not you. When you pray, listen until all you can hear is His voice. When you sing, let it be His song. When you gather, let it be in His name. When you love others, I pray that you (and I), love well.

Let Jesus be the first fruit of all you see. All you do and all you are.

xx

Grace Upon Grace.

I’ve been thinking about grace lately. It seems to sprout up in the conversations I have, the Bible studies I attend, the devotionals I’ve been reading. But what is it? How do we know we have it? How can we give it to others? Sometimes, it seems like one of those “church” words that we never truly define in our lives.

“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith…and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus….” 1 Tim 1:14

So, grace is a few things then:


- FREE (Like samples at the wholesale clubs)
- A gift from God...I do not inherently have it, nor can I obtain and experience it outside of His design. 
- There is an abundant supply of it...from God to you and me and, if we're cognizant, from us into others. THAT'S the tough part. (More on that later). 

It should be distinguished that God presents two types of grace in the Gospel story. The first is the idea of “saving grace.” It is the grace by which Jesus laid his life on the cross and spilled his blood to redeem us and sanctify us. In literal terms, it rescues us, not because we ever deserve it, but because God is good.  It is not a grace given to all, as the acceptance of this grace implies the idea that we are no longer a slave to the world. The other is “common grace,” that is, God’s goodness extended to all people in often, 'normal' circumstances. 


So, why is grace soooo good?

In Matt Chandler's book Recovering Redemption, he explains this: 

In order for the Gospel to be good news, it has to invade bad spaces.

In other words, in order for us to understand God's goodness, we have to first understand that we are living in tension because of the Fall. We don't get to live out the perfect creation God intended in Genesis, because Eve stupidly chose to listen to that evil, vile serpent. (Can you tell I don't like snakes?) 

At this point, God could have decided that he was done with us. If you read through some of the Old Testament you'll see places where God definitely asserts his wrath upon idolaters. Utter destruction...rebellion...exile. Sounds like a zombie apocalypse to me. I digress. But instead what does he do? He sent his only Son who was sinless, perfectly God and yet perfectly man and utterly blameless to pour out his blood on a cross to save us when we did not deserve it, before he even knew us. I don't know about you but, if we're being honest, there are zero people I would make that sacrifice for that I know personally, let alone a stranger. Good thing I am not God.

But just think about that for a second...

When we were STILL sinners, Christ died FOR us. 

Do you see what I see? I see grace. Unmerited favour. Sometimes I think to myself...what did I do to deserve the grace of God in this tragedy or this wrong choice or this ungodly action? Nothing. I did nothing. And yet freely he gives, and freely he forgives.

There's one other kind of grace...it's not scholarly by any account but...it's the grace I'd like to think we extend (or should) to those people who are just outright difficult to love. 

Messy grace.

Face it. People are hard to love sometimes. 

Don't even try to deny that...because Maury Povich would tell you the lie detector determined that is a LIE. I know you know those people.

I'm hard to love, you're hard to love. Your kids when they scream "mooooom" for the 1,000 time in 5 minutes, your spouse - generally speaking, (or so I've been told. This is the blessing of being single...that's what I'm telling myself! 😂) your family, your friends who don't know Jesus, your friends who DO know Jesus, the homeless man on a street corner...the list goes on. 

If we've been given such grace, then it stands that it should naturally be extended to others. But like I said, it's messy. It's much easier said then done.

But grace with those around us...that looks like peace. It looks like hope. It looks like love.


Sometimes grace sounds like "I'm sorry," "I love you" or "I forgive you." That one is the hardest for me. When I've been hurt, wronged or feel I've experienced injustice....my natural reaction is defensive. I do not jump to forgiveness and understanding. I get distant, cold even. Maybe you do, too. Or maybe you get angry, or you gossip, or you seek payback. 

Grace says, I don't love what you did, what you said or how I feel right now, but I love you still. 

Grace says, no matter who you were, where you've been, or what kind of dirty, ugly past you have...those things do not define you. They are not your future. And I love you still. 

Grace says, no matter how tired I am, how frustrated I get and despite all the ways I do not understand your crazy self or your rash decisions or the place you now have put yourself in, I love you still. 

Grace says that even when you've made the same mistake 100 times, I'm still going to be your friend. I might not be the friend you like very much when I practice tough love or honesty...but I'm (hopefully) still your friend. I'll promise to keep it real. And yup, you guessed it. I love you still.

When I make efforts to extend grace even when (not "if" but "when") it's awkward or uncomfortable, I'm extending the grace of God from his Heavenly hand to my earthly one. I need you to give me grace and I need to give you grace. And we both need God's grace. 

Grace redeems.

It restores all things for His glory.

It accepts broken people.

It mends severed relationships. 

Grace saves us.