Ss...Ss...Synergy

Synergy is an interesting concept. The 'whole' working together is greater than the 'part, individual or localized element' and ultimately more fruitful. If you're like me you have to push aside the cheesiness of such a corporate sounding concept to unlock its deeper meaning (very much a self-help statement...I know).

When the synergistic attitude - a vision for and unity of a body that is larger than any one person - is replaced with selfish motives or personal desires this can give birth to an overarching unhealthy competition within the member and the body.

It's amazing how important clear communication is in creating and sustaining synergy. That the leaders model and profess this attitude daily is vital and they must do it clearly. Perfection isn't the goal here, debates and disagreements are healthy when processed well, but living out a vision is more important than speaking though they're two sides of the same coin.

Think about your parents marriage. Think about the synergistic, holistic, functional, pragmatic, dysfunctional, devastating moments and seasons and for all of us in very different forms. Marriage is divine, it's a symbol, an analogy of the greater relationship not only between us and God but the Trinity at that.

Healthy marriages however aren't perfect. That said, healthy marriages are synergistic. The couple is so intent on clearly understanding the other that grace and humility abound alongside the individual desires to please the other. This interesting combination of give-and-take is ultimately fruitful to the marriage as a whole. Disagreements may abound but love for the other abounds more.

The Apostle Paul taught this. To the Corinthians he described all the members of this new life in Christ as a body. And each person another part of the body until it's completely unified in vision and purpose...that is Glorifying God. Each member of the body with a purpose and the body as a whole with a purpose and these uniting to create something divinely blessed.

Synergy. I smirk when I say it, I don't know why but I can't help it. Yet it describes something that the Scriptures have been teaching for centuries. It provides modern language for an ancient concept. If each member is equipped to unite to both the body and to Christ through the counsel and wisdom of the Spirit and are reminded regularly that this is the most fruitful path to Kingdom living and building...then synergy has done it's job - it has created a language and an ethos of unity in Christ on mission.

Read 1 Corinthians 12 for synergistic thoughts. Study the relationships around you...are you synergized?

The Wise say What?

'But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man doesn't comprehend it's worth; it can't be found in the land of the living.

The deep says, "It's not in me";
the seas says, "It's not with me."

It can't be bought with the finest gold, nor can it's price be weighed in silver...nor in ophir or sapphires...nor can crystal or jewels compare with wisdom.

Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

God even said to man, "The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil understanding."'

I was reading the interaction between Jesus and Pilate the other day. Pilate attempts to figure out who Jesus is or at least claims to be, a king. In response Jesus says, 'You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I am incarnate, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'

Interesting that Jesus turns the conversation of power and right and authority on it's head and gets to the heart of the issue...Truth. 'What is truth?' is the famous response of Pilate and one that everyone must ask at some point in their journey through life.

Truth. Where can it be found? The very same place that wisdom and understanding are found. In fact Truth is the source of wisdom and wisdom is the overflow of truth in a persons life. Understanding is the bridge between truth and wisdom.

In the sinner it enlightens them to the truth of the Gospel and then displays itself in the life of the believer through orthopraxy, right living, according to the truth of God. It is the development of a truly orthodox disciple, one who desires and wisely understands the truth of the Gospel.

Where do these things come from: wisdom, understanding, truth? They come from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth...that is Christ. And they appear in the one who confirms this truth through a humbles confession of Christs kingship in their personal life and the universe at large.

Read Job 28 on finding wisdom. Read John 18 on Jesus' eternal claim and Pilate's ongoing question.

Pretty Freakin' Serious

Seriously. That's how I take myself too often. Very seriously.

I often feel as though I intrinsically have something to protect that's so important I need a specialized-overestimated-emotionally-charged-internal-security-system that sounds an alarm when this important aspect of my life is called into question and defends with 'seriousness'.

What's all the more interesting is that in any given circumstance or interaction with anyone other than myself I have to be reminded that I don't have to feel like a child. That I am developing talents and abilities to offer others. That the Spirit of God has actually equipped me with gifts able for building up His kingdom.

How does a person feel like a five yr. old sitting at the adult table and simultaneously take themselves unnecessarily serious?

Pride. The underrating of who God has created me to be destructively mixed with an over-saturated attitude of the worldly self.

Imagine flipping those on their faces. Wringing out the soggy view of self that so drains my spirit and being saturating with the fantastic Spirit of God Who is Life.

Seriously, how awesome that would be to maintain that mindset daily. Pretty freakin' awesome if you ask me.

Read through creation and the cross in the Scriptures - you'll be reminded of the uniqueness of the human and the value and love God has for us in both creation and death and, of course, reconciled creation.

Waves and other...Waves

So my son started body surfing this week in NC. We run into the water about 20 feet where the waves roll in sandy and foamy. He turns toward the beach and dives into the rolling water and drifts 10 feet or so, drinks a little salt water, rubs some sand in his eyes and then jumps up and runs back in to do it again.

So incredibly awesome to watch this fearless excitement take shape.

Being a tiny bit more experienced with body surfing I understand the power of the waves more than he does. I've experienced the crushing destruction the wind/water combo brings when it drives ones face into the sand. The rag-doll in a toddlers mouth soggy-tortured feeling when it doesn't go as planned.

I also understand the childlike joy in victoriously riding a primo wave. So on both counts, as I watch my son take to the water without fear of the power of the ocean yet full of the same joy in victory I can't help but experience that internal awesome cacophony of emotion fatherhood brings.

This is such a spiritual endeavor isn't it? Creating and training up. Encouraging and Admonishing. Walking alongside and then stepping back. Holding hands into the water and the then sending off to ride the waves.

I wonder - what is God equipping us for in this season of life? What wave am we soon to be sent off to ride?

Whatever the case, the Scriptures are filled with the story of a God who loves His creation. Exponentially more than I, loving my son as he ventures off on new experiences, is a God who glories in our joyful ventures in His creation with Him.

Ride the waves. Enjoy them. Understanding the power and fury and joy. And then enjoy all the more watching your children ride the same waves...it's exhilarating. I can't even imagine how much joy the Lord truly experiences in journeying with His people as we enjoy Him.

Awesome.

Word of Beard

'Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?' Job 4:17

...Says a spirit, a mysterious form in the night, to Eliphaz a friend of Job. He's in the midst of dreaming when all of sudden he's terrified at the presence of this being who then begins to whisper conviciting nothings in to his ear.

It doesn't whisper murderous threats or haunting growls - even more powerful it begs the questions above. It challenges his (or maybe this is a vision for Job) claim to goodness, power and righteousness in his own right etc. It causes him to discern his own attitude toward the Creator and his own understanding of his place in the world.

'Why do you call me good? No one is good - except God alone' replied Jesus to a young man seeking to follow Him.

It's true. The Son of God was solidifying what the wild spirit from Eliphaz's vision was positing. That God is good, righteous and pure and no imperfect human (that's all of us in case you were wondering) could be more so than Him.

How we view our position in relationship to God affects how we worship or fail to worship Him.

Read Luke 18:18-30 for the story of the young man.

King and the Half-King

Tanacharison, the Half-King of the Six Nations during the formative years of George Washington's life, was quoted in Washington's journal from his early years in the military as saying something incredibly humble and yet provocative, even offensive to some:

'We live in a Country between, therefore the Land does not belong either to one or the other[English or French]; but the Great Being above allow'd it to be a place of Residence for us [Seneca Tribe].'

How awesome it is that a tribal leader and representative of so many people, nations that had lived in this particular land for hundreds of years prior, would claim no right to the land, but only that it's been a gift to his people, though 'God-willing' would remain one.

Now I'm sure there's a larger context to the statement and I assume his desire truly was to keep his land free from the effects of the Europeans, at least the negative effects. That said, it's a truly fantastic worldview. I immediately think of Paul's comments regarding the Believers state of being in this land:

'So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal...We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.' (2 Cor. 4:18, 5:8)

Paul does something often in his letters. He spends time noting how thankful he is that God is working _____, or that his audience is _____, or that the Spirit has been _____. So on the one hand we set our hope on the eternal land that God has set apart for His people, yet we remain thankful of our current blessings, which God allows and/or provides. Paul notes that our bodies are temporary and all the while he models a spirit of humble thankfulness.

We still live in a land in between. In between what was perfect in the Garden of Eden and what will be perfect when The Great Being (Jesus Christ) redeems His creation in full. Claim nothing, but humbly honor what has been given, most notably reconcilliation with the Creator through Christ.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 for a discussion on the temporary nature of the body and the real purpose of life. Read His Exellency George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis

Noah, James, Grace...and Me

I recently started reading through the Bible again - in fact I'm only in Genesis 9 but a few things have caught my attention, 6:8 in particular.

'But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.'
Short. Sweet. But what the...? Corruption so intense (:11-12) that even the acts of the animals had became a disappointment! How far creation had wandered from perfect design only several chapters and several hundred years earlier. This is the socio-spiritual climate Noah enters into - and yet he remained 'just', 'perfect' and even 'walked with God' (:9).

God dispensed grace on Noah. Noah's life fostered a grace-filled response from the Lord. And this when all of culture and creation were fostering judgement from the same God.

Sp now, where does a Christ follower go to dig into the application of such a thing as abundant grace here and now?

In just four verses James manages to squeeze in 10 imperatives for the Christian seeking to experience 'more grace.' Though we're imperfect, only through a deepening relationship with Christ and away from dependence on anything or anyone else (people, self, work, money, governments, desires), can we hope to experience this divine sanctifying grace of God.

Isn't it interesting as well that in order to experience God's abundant grace - something so fluid and forgiving, grace so freeing and comforting, a divine gift - that we MUST do certain things. These imperatives go against all our cultural instincts (to be free to live however we choose and still be accepted to receive this beautiful thing called grace from God). I'm not speaking of Gods grace for salvation which is free to all who repent from sin and have faith in Christ - but grace in sanctification, that which transforms us into Christ-likeness as a believer.

Now if we take into account that God is Holy and we aren't - that He created everything and is behind the perfect design of life - if we can comprehend that He alone defines truth and love and justice and mercy and grace...then we can begin to understand that we must interact with Him, through Christ, in specific ways in order for Him to interact with us. And He decides what these ways are.

What are these imperatives James lays out?

Submit: to whom? God. Great starting point.
Resist: whom? Satan and all that is evil, corrupt, anti-righteousness.
Draw near: to God - and this only after submission - a true longing for God.
Cleanse: your hands. Temple priests would ceremonially wash themselves for service as externally/physically holy (set apart for Gods work).
Purify: your hearts. This is an internal reconciliation with Gods truth and love. Thoughts, desires, motives, attitude...these are transformed in Christ-likeness.
Lament: experiencing misery at the realization of your sinful state and depravity away from God.
Mourn: an inner cry to the Lord with a broken heart for your sin.
Weep: an external display of lamenting and mourning. The overflow of a heart desiring reconciliation with God.
Let: all laughter and joy turn to gloom and sorrow. Those things that bring you pleasure, replace with mourning and weeping, know they aren't the source of or expression of this abundant grace. Only Christ is.

These 9 imperatives, these actions and positions of the heart - these are summed up in the 10th. Humility. Noah's life, to an incredibly high degree at this point (remember he was called 'just' and 'perfect') resembled this list in James. Of course Christ hadn't come in the flesh in Noah's time, but the same holy character that is expected in the Christian was expected in the saints of old.

Humility: the act of bringing oneself low in relation to Christ. Acknowledging his supremacy over all things as noted in Colossians 1:15-20. Professing his Lordship over not just the world...but you and I personally (Romans 10:9-10). Confessing the work of the cross in the face of your demons (read Romans 8).

Noah received a special grace in a difficult season. He didn't demand it, he simply lived a life that fostered that response/blessing from the Lord (though let's not idolize Noah...a year or so after the flood he too abuses this grace).

All of us experience a taste of Gods divine grace, life itself displays this. Disciples of Christ experience and understand the spiritual aspects of this grace through Christ. Maturing believers experience this all the more.

I'm processing these imperatives of a grace-filled life...and it's intense. I receive more than I will ever understand from Christ. Though I also tend to offer to others immeasurably less than I ought.