An Epidemic of Excitement

When I say the word "epidemic", what images or thoughts come to your mind? There are, perhaps, many different things that you might think of. I would think the most common notion that might come to mind would be something having to do with a highly contagious disease of some sort. And if you checked out the dictionary, this would be the first definition that came up. But "epidemic" has a wider meaning that is more helpful to us here. Other definitions talk about a rapid spreading, growth, or development - the operative words being first "rapid" which characterizes the action and then "spreading" and its synonyms which denote what action is taking place. An example of an epidemic we may all remember is what happened in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Generally, we saw first an epidemic of fear as we all wondered what had happened and what was going to happen. Not too long after that we saw an even greater epidemic of patriotism as Americans decided what their response would be to this attack on our nation. We see this latter epidemic evidenced by not only the sale of American flags but, even more importantly, how politics, culture, and even sports seemed to pause and acknowledge that something more significant was happening. Partisan politics were put aside, MTV put all their sexual and frivolous programming on hold, and sports took the weekend off.

With a clearer understanding of what an epidemic is in a more general sense, I can use a lighter example to elaborate further. Moving to Blacksburg, VA in the fall 1996, I was already a fan of football from years of growing up in Redskin country. But in Blacksburg, I learned the difference between a passing interest in football and a passion for Hokie football. Home games would turn this simple, southwest Virginian college town into a rabid, screaming, raging throng of humanity bent on Hokie world domination. Roads shut down and every green piece of grass becomes a parking lot. And as Metallica begins to blare out of the stadium speakers, 60,000 people in unison start jumping up and down and begin a chant of screaming and yelling sustained for the next three hours nonstop. If you are a football fan, this is absolute paradise, but the point is it doesn't matter if were a fan or not. You can't help but get caught up in the excitement flowing around you.

So now with that image in your head, let me finally ask you a question - have you ever met a Christian that was so excited about God that it made you want to know more about him? In my experience I've met plenty of Christians that genuinely love God with all their heart, but most of this love is manifest in a solemn obedience that could be characterized as "happy" but rarely rises to the level of "excited". A couple of weeks ago I called this the "dim life".

So does this mean that God is boring or the people that follow him? I'd tend toward the latter. Even a casual reading of Genesis or John will show that God is a wild man and that following him (read Acts) is anything but boring. Jesus came to demonstrate to us a quality of life that shines with an excitement that catches peoples' attention and draws them to God. Jesus put it this way when he talked about our lives:

You are the light of the world--like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. - Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)

After years and years, Christians still are under the impression that we can bagger or legislate this world into coming to Christ - we hoped that would work because that's the easy way! For all of our well formed arguments and clever slogans, it is the passionate practice of the Gospel, and that alone, that will inspire an epidemic of excitement about Christ to sweep across our world. Because most times it's not their questions that they find are unanswerable but the answers that they find unacceptable. But finding something hard to believe does not by that virtue alone make it inherently untrue. Ultimately, it must and will be our practice that they find irresistible.

For one can only debate the concept of light until the sunrise - so shine!

Balcony View

Finally, finally, finally, I got to sit down and upload some pictures of the view from our balcony this morning. Sitting on our balcony, this is the view of the city we have in the daytime and at night. I'm partial to the night view. It honestly blows me away to sit there an look over the city I want so desperately to impact and serve. Out there is a city of amazing history and future potential that has been hindered by so many social ills including poverty and racism. I strongly believe that God is in the process of doing something amazing in this city and I'm excited at the possability that Katie and I could be a part of that.

"Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." - Habakkuk 1:5

The Dim Life

As kind of an sequel to my last post (Shine), I was reading and thinking the other day and it occurred to me what the consequence of living a "dim life" really is. To say we follow Christ and yet live a dim life is really a dichotomy in terms that people that don't follow Christ recognize. People honestly expect something to be different about our lives, many perhaps even hope there's something different about our lives. When there is not, it not only says something about us but, unfortunately, it says something about the God we follow. In his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard says it this way, "How many people are radically and permanently repelled from The Way by Christians who are unfeeling, stiff, unapproachable, boringly lifeless, obsessive, and dissatisfied?" The point is that our dim lives not only make following Christ look bad but it makes leading a sinful life look good!

Therein lies all of the dangers of leading a dim life. First, as Paul says of the Jews in Romans 2:24, God's name is looked down upon as a consequence of our actions. Second, our actions actually make sin more attractive to the world. And lastly, but certainly not least, we loss out on the quality of life Jesus modeled for us and said was available to us today.

My plan is to take the rest of the summer to think about how attractive God looks to the people that know my life. Do the people that see me everyday grow in their interest of the God that motivates my lifestyle, or do they grow in their apathy of my religion? These are tough questions for sure, but God forbid we ever make something this beautiful so ugly - that would be the ultimately tragedy.