Who is the Boss?

WARNING: PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT YET HAVE THE SPRIRITUAL FORTITUDE FOR THE DEEPER THINGS OF GOD LEST YOU READ THIS AND FIND YOURSELF GREATLY OFFENDED.

Pastor Dan shared on Sunday that James, the half-brother of Jesus, who at one time would not believe that Jesus was anything more than his older brother came to not only fully believe in Jesus as God, but was willing to die for that belief.  How?  Why? As Pastor Dan pointed out the answer to that question is revealed in James 1:1, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  For James, Jesus was not just an elder brother nor was he only a Savior…no, he was his LORD—his master, his boss, the leader of his life.  What about for you and me?

When our son Seth was three years old, we were driving in the car and I told him to stop doing something.  He said, “I not have to listen to you. You not the boss of me.”  My head whipped around putting all of our lives in jeopardy as I drove and asked, “If I’m not the boss of you then who is?”  He looked at me, smiled and said, “Jesus is the only boss of me!”  (What do you do with that?  Ha!)

Well, Seth’s theology may be misdirected, but nevertheless I pray that he allows Jesus to be his only boss.  I believe that the Lenten season especially pushes us to let the Spirit probe our hearts and minds with that question, “Who is the boss of you?”  Are the circumstances of life in charge of you; do they dictate your mood and your response?  Is money your boss?  Is a busy calendar what determines what you will or will not do for Jesus?  Is food, drink or substance the thing giving you your marching orders?  Who or what is your boss?  As we follow Christ, he will lead us all to a fork in the road.  It is the place where we must decide if we will only have Jesus as the Forgiver of our sins or will we fall on our knees and cry, “Jesus, just as you have given your all for me, I give my all to you!”

Around the Church of the Nazarene we talk a lot about one’s personal moment of full surrender which is met by God’s gift of grace called entire sanctification.  However, it seems that often our personal sanctification is thrown out the window when we come together as a local church family.  For instance, I am sure this has not happened here, but in my past experience, I have watched people leave the church because they did not like the color of the walls or they said the music was too loud or that the music was not loud enough or that the pastor should not preach in jeans…I even had one family leave because they said one sermon did not have enough humor for them and another family got mad because they said a sermon had too much humor.  And then, and this is the most unsanctified statement I have ever heard, “I am leaving this church because I just don’t feel like I am being fed” (Just so you know my response to that is this: “Sunday worship ought not to be your main course, but your weekly dessert.  If you leave here hungry it is because you have let yourself get malnourished all week long”).  My point is, I have watched sanctified people act very unsanctified over things that frankly do not matter.  They leave the church family because their personal preferences are not being met.  

Who is the boss? That is not only a question we must ask as individuals, but also as a church family?  Who will be our boss? Jesus or the squeaky wheels who would find something to complain about if the Apostle Paul himself were leading us as a church family?  Jesus or those who threaten to take their tithe away if they don’t get what they want?  Jesus or those who say the issue is this, that or the other but never bother to ask if the real issue is a matter of sin in their own heart?  Who will be our boss as a church family? Jesus or someone or something else?

I warned you not read this!  When it comes to Jesus being the boss, it is offensive.  In John 6 Jesus lost all of his disciples but 12 because they said, “This is a hard teaching who can accept it?”  Everybody wants Jesus as their Savior, but few will receive Jesus as Lord.

BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT I HAVE HERE AT CFNAZ.  Even this week, I was again shown another example of how your heart as a church family beats to let Jesus be the boss around here.  When you voted for the Refocus process to begin that was really a corporate time of surrender that said, “Not my will, but Your will be done in our church family.”  Regularly, people who know me ask, “Chad, how is it really going in Canton?”  And I say, “Our church family has remained boldly, lovingly and radically faithful to their commitment to let Jesus change our direction and emphasis as a church family.”  Praise God and thank you!

As we move forward and we all begin to experience the tension of a change of direction and emphasis, I urge you to keep this question at the forefront of our collective heart and mind, “Who is our boss?”  If Jesus is our boss then, as hard as it may be, with his help, we can all set aside personal preferences in order to ask, “What does God want us to do so that the lost friends and family whose names we have put at the foot of the cross might know him as Savior and Lord?” 

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around our summer family vacations.  I loved it when Dad would put the top carrier on our station wagon, Mom would stock the snack bag, we’d pick up Grandma and Grandpa Current before dawn and then away we’d go on a great adventure.  I remember road trips to see every state including Alaska…talk about an adventure…it was so much fun!

And you know what made it even more fun?  I was just along for the ride.  As a child I did not have to think about reading the map (remember when we actually used paper maps) or reserving hotels (I remember Dad calling hotels from pay phones—no cell phones back then) or watching over the budget (Dad use to get traveler’s checks from AAA because we did not have credit cards).  Vacation was great for me as a kid because I got to enjoy the trip while Dad and Mom took care of all the details.  O, to go back to those days…

To be honest, there is a big part of me that would just as soon treat the adventure called following Christ much the same way. I want Jesus to take care of all the details so I can just enjoy the ride.  I want to have the fun, but I don’t want to have to be bothered by all the work.  But when Jesus says, “Come follow me,” I must decide if I will give up my right to simply enjoy the ride.  And right there is where I decide if the rubber will meet the road when it comes to me following Jesus Christ.  Because following Jesus is not about sleeping in the back of the station wagon.  It is about denying myself and taking up my cross (at least that is what Jesus said).

That wasn’t just what Jesus said, that is how Jesus lived!  Think about what Jesus went through so we could find abundant life now and forever.  He was falsely accused, mocked, spit upon, beaten and crucified.  He did not just talk about helping us find the abundant life, he died to make it happen.  And then he has the audacity to look back at you and me and suggest that the only way we will find the life he has made possible is if we are willing to give up our lives (see Matthew 16:24-26).  Here is a question a Christian mentor asked me, “If your faith is not costing you something, do you actually have faith in Christ?” 

What is your faith in Christ costing you?  What is our faith in Christ costing us as a church family? That is what Faith Promise Plus is about.  It is not about “tipping” God like we do a decent waiter at a restaurant. It is about asking God what he might ask us to voluntarily give up so that people around the world might simply live, people in our community might come to know him and so that our children, grandchildren and great children will not graduate from their faith when they graduate high school like 59% or more of kids raised in the church in the US are doing.

If every adult gave up $3.90 every Sunday from May-April, then we would exceed our goal of $69,000.  Think about that—by giving up a Starbucks coffee a week or a few sodas at Speedway, even that small sacrifice would help us make a big, even eternal difference.  For Kimberly and I, it has meant we will not have anything but rabbit ears for TV—we will not purchase cable so we can use what we would have spent on cable to give over and beyond our regular giving to Faith Promise Plus.

And guess what!!!!!  We are not alone!  Guess how much was given after the first Sunday Faith Promise Plus was introduced…are you ready…you are incredible…you have already ledged over $16,000 after week one!  Praise God!   You do let your faith cost you something! The rest of our church family has until April 27, 2014 to make their pledge.  Can we raise another $52,000 in pledges by then?  Well, this is where the rubber meets the road isn’t it? 

Great Expectations

Last summer I got us a great deal! (Have I mentioned I might be a little cheap)?  If we would sit through a 90 minute time share presentation we would get a free 3 night stay in a resort, $200 in cash, dinner theater tickets and a discount on an amusement park. This part of the trip exceeded our expectations.  It was great! But that’s not all folks…yes, there is more (said with a game show host voice)! We also received another 3 night stay in another city.  The brochure for our second accommodations looked even better than the first.  There was only problem…the pictures from the brochure had to have been from when the place first opened 20 years ago.  Now the “resort” looked like it had not been maintained yet alone cleaned since they opened.  It was nasty!  We actually bought cleaning supplies just to disinfect the place before we brought in our suitcases.  We prayed to be protected from bedbugs or any other infectious disease that the EPA would someday shut the place down for in the near future.  The brochure set our expectations high and when the accommodations did not meet our expectations we were not happy.

Christian counselors Les and Leslie Parrott explain that unmet and unrealistic expectations in our relationships can be one of the number one relationship killers between a husband and wife, two friends, family members and even a church family.  When I expect one thing, but the other person, in reality, is less than I expect, then watch out relationship because troubled waters are coming your way!

I believe you could say that is why the very people who taught everyone else to long and look for God’s Messiah ended up killing Him.  The Jewish religious leaders new their Scripture inside and out.  They followed the letter of the law, but when Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, recover the sight of the blind, release the imprisoned and free the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19), instead of following him, they questioned him.  Instead of working with Jesus to let the lost be found, they accused him of being a drunk and a glutton because he too often hung out with Tax collectors, sinners and prostitutes.  When Jesus came declaring a law of love, they said he was blaspheming God’s law.  When Jesus said he came to bring life and life abundant, they decided that he must be killed.  When Jesus refused to overcome Rome by force, they nailed him to the cross.  Why?  In simplest terms it was because Jesus did not live up to their expectations.  They were expecting something different from the Messiah.

Think about that...Jesus did not live up to their expectations. I have a feeling they are not alone.  I have a feeling we could all look back on our lives and find a time when we did not think Jesus lived up to our expectations.  May be it was the time we prayed for God to heal our loved one and they died anyway.  May be it was the year we had more bills than money and even though we tithed, we still had to file for bankruptcy.  May be it was when we served our heart out but did not see any fruit?

When Jesus does not meet our expectations we will find ourselves facing the same decision the people of his day faced: Will we crucify him or will we let him change our expectations?  How do we do that?  I think we have to spend some time doing what his disciples could/would not do.  We have to go to the Garden with him and pray.  In that Garden right before Judas betrayed him, Jesus prayed, “Father, take this cup from me, but not my will, yours be done.”  Some say faith is believing God is going to do whatever you want and not backing down until he does.  What if that is not faith but presumption?  What if true faith is trusting God more than the answer we do or do not get?  What if true faith is trusting God so much that when our expectations for life go unmet we still expect that God knows what is best; that God will work all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose; that what the enemy would use to destroy us with God will use to bring us good?  Will we demand our way or will trust God to do what is best even if it is different than what we want and expect?  According to Jesus that is true faith. 

So, now, let me make this a little more personal so that I do not put you at risk with disappointing you with unmet expectations.  Last month the CFNAZ Church Board wrote, voted on and made available to you my job description as Lead Pastor.  In that process, I asked the committee appointed to work through this process what their expectations for my wife and children are.  I believe Bob Testa, Phil Berlean and Ben Holloway gave a very wise and biblical answer.  They said, “We expect of your family whatever you would expect of any family who has committed to CFNAZ as their church home.”

Therefore, let me state my expectations of those who are committed to CFNAZ: 1) Regularly participate in Sunday morning worship, 2) Choose one point of connection in which you will have face to face authentic accountability in growing in your relationship with Christ because the Bible teaches there is no real spiritual growth outside the context of community (e.g. Choose one of the following and regularly participate: Sunday School, Connection Group or a weekly Bible Study), 3) Find at least one ministry in the church in which you serve the Body of Christ—if every part of the Body is not doing its part then the whole body will suffer as the Bible says, 4) Make room in your schedule to find your mission in the world—in other words, what are you doing right now outside of the “Christian” circle in the “secular” world to bring the Light of Christ into the world? (For example, perhaps you are volunteering at a local public school or maybe you are dedicated to feeding the hungry of our community or perhaps God has called you to be a missionary at your teenagers sporting events or may be God has shown you a need to spend regular time getting to know one of your neighbors who does not yet know Christ or may be God has shown you the reason you have a passion for a particular hobby is so he can use you in that way to share his love with others while you share in that hobby with them.  The opportunities that God may give us as a mission are endless), 5) that you will grow in trusting God with your money. The Bible speaks to money more than any subject than love because we will either serve it or God and that can be a problem for both the rich and the poor.  So, my expectations for good churchmanship are simply put: corporate worship, connect for discipleship, serve in ministry, be a missionary in your world and trust God more than money. 

That being said, I will apply the same expectation to Kimberly and our children.  Therefore, you can expect my family in worship on Sunday, we will choose one connection group (for us, right now, this is Sunday school, Children’s Bible Quizzing, the Refocus Small Group I will be leading and a discipleship group I am a part of with two new believers), we will serve in ministry and we are filling out the application to volunteer at our children’s public school and next year I plan to help coach on the Upward basketball team that Seth will be on for the purpose of connecting with him and with lost families and we will give over 10% plus faith promise every pay check.

Last night the CFNAZ board supported the expectation I have placed on my family.  What do you think? For some of you the expectations I have set for you may be right on, disappointing or challenging.  For some of you the expectations I think are appropriate for my family may be right on, challenging or disappointing.  But the best way not to let our expectations hurt our relationships is to share them clearly so we can talk about them openly.  So, I invite you, if you have a question, concern or outright problem with what I have share to contact me so we can work through it.  In so doing no one will have to be crucified and we can all learn to trust God to exceed our expectations.  I love you and thank God for the way you encourage me to be open and honest and I hope you know  encourage you to do the same.

Ashes

Ashes….this day is all about ashes.  “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” they say.  Out of the dirt, humankind was made and to the dirt we will return.  Ashes are to remind us of our mortality.  Morbid thought?  No, it is a healthy thought.  The Bible says, “He is a fool who does not consider his own death.”

                Like ashes caught up in the wind, we are here one minute and gone the next.  That is what makes this life so incredibly precious.  Live this life in view of death and you will either live in self-indulgence or live for what really matters—relationship with God and others.  Whatever we have or lack, achieve or lose, is nothing compared to giving and receiving love.

                Ashes…today is all about ashes.  Ashes are dirty.  Touch ashes and they will leave their mark.  So will this world.  Do I need to convince anyone of the dirtiness of this world?  Violence, hate, pain, abuse, suffering, loss, sickness, division, lies, lust, greed…this world is dirty and because we live in it, so are we.  Some try to hide it. Some point fingers so that the ashes of others stand out that theirs might go unnoticed. Some deny it.  Some rationalize or minimize and still others wallow in it.  But we are all left dirty…’For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ the Bible says.  And because of that I cannot be in the presence of God.  Even one speck of the dirtiness of this world would be too much to allow me in the presence of God’s purity.  And that is why He came!

Jesus came to enter into our ashes.

                For the lonely, he became rejected.

                For the abused, he was beaten.

                For the sick, he agonized.

                For the ridiculed, he was spit upon.

                For the sins of us all, he suffered.

                For the death we fear, he made his own.

                Ashes…that is what today is about.  I suppose we’d rather skip ahead to the joy of Easter, but we cannot understand Easter, if we don’t first look at the ashes.  Today, Ash Wednesday, begins the 40 days of Lent (Lent is derived from the word that means to lengthen for this is the time of year at which the days begin to grow longer).  The 40 days of Lent call us to REFOCUS on such disturbing themes as repentance, sacrifice and submission reminding us of the sacrificial love of Christ.

These 40 days present to us a personal challenge: “What will you give up for the next forty days leading up to Easter?  (And no, it is not a Catholic thing…it is a Christian thing).    The purpose of making this choice to give up something that you will miss and crave is so that you might turn that longing to Christ; that you will allow that sense of loss to focus you on your dependence on Christ. It is really a type of forty day fast. The forty days are the Mondays-Saturdays from now until Easter.  Not the Sundays, because every Sunday is a mini-Easter celebration.  So, for the next 40 Mondays-Saturdays, what will you give up as your way of remembering what Jesus gave up for us?  Let every time you think of that which you gave up be a moment of reflection and prayer. 

Someone once said we can either walk the long, hard journey up the mountain called Lent or we can take the air conditioned bus straight to Easter?  Which will you choose?  For those of you who will choose the former you will find that it is the burden of the climb that makes the brilliance of Easter shine all the brighter.  Come on…what do you say?  Let’s get off the bus and follow Jesus up the hill called Calvary.