Committment

When I was in ministry in Colorado there was a couple who I grew to love and respect as they taught me by their example about committment to the body of Christ. When I arrived in Colorado they had just retired and had begun to 'winter' in Arizona and 'summer' in the Colorado mountains while keeping an apartment in Denver. This couple was hospitable and loving to everyone at church. And whether in town or out of town they were supportive of the church and made sure that their contribution check made it to the church office each week.

As the years went by and I got to know this couple better I realized their theological views very rarely matched the views of the leadership of the church. The husband came from a background that viewed paid ministers and buildings as an addition to the Bible that was not always beneficial. The wife came from a background that was rich in the heritage of reuniting the Christian Church and the Churches of Christ. The church I was ministering at had a building, employed ministers, and struggled to view anything other than a Church of Christ as acceptable. However you would not know how significant their differences were with the leadership of the local church unless you sat down for an extended conversation and pulled this information out of them.

One day I finally asked them why they continued to consider the church we were at together as their home church and be both financially and emotionally supportive of the church and its leadership when the church quiet often violated their theological understanding of the Bible. Their response started me on a journey of transformation. They explained how that they had committed years earlier that this would be their church home. They explained how that committment is not something to be taken lightly- if they jumped from church to church looking for a perfect match in all areas they would demonstrate to their children and all around them that they were committed only if they got their way. And they explained how that if God placed the leadership of each local church in place then whether they agreed or disagreed with the leaders their integrity in following God demanded that they respect and follow the spiritual leadership of that church.

And you know what? These two people are some of the happiest and most content people I have ever known. They decided it was their job to committ to the local church, develop deep Christ centered relationships at church that continued through thick and thin, and continuously seek how God desired to use them.

Through the years it has occurred to me that their committment to the local church we were together at in Colorado was an example of how God loves us. God does not break his fellowship with us when he disagrees with us. God does not move on to someone else when the relationship is not all that he had hoped it would be. God continues to provide and bless us even when he should withhold everything and starve us until we get it right. And above all God sticks with us through thick and thin, through good and bad... We would do good to imitate this kind of committment.

Spiritual Disciplines

Do you have a time laid out when and where you commune with God? This time is important for your spiritual health. For me personally I have a few things in my life that are triggers to remind me to spend time in prayer with God. (When I say prayer I mean a time where I do part of the talking and I spend part of the time being quiet and listening to God.)

One trigger for me to pray is when I can't sleep at night. Instead of fretting over sleeplessness I have learned to simply accept sleeplessness as an invitation from God to commune with him. It is actually an ideal time because there are no distractions and all is quiet. Another trigger for me to pray is when I ride my bike. This presents an ideal time to chew things over with God as the miles roll by. Perhaps my longest standing trigger for prayer is beginning the day in conversation with God.

For me waking up in the morning, waking up in the middle of the night, and riding my bike are 3 constants in my life that are constant invitations for me to stop and spend time with God. In fact some of the most significant conversations I have had with God have occurred in the middle of the night- God revealed his plans for me to adopt 2 of my children during these middle of the night prayer times.

Every so often I will commit to God a specified period of time for prayer. In August of 2000 I committed three days of time with God in prayer. In February of 2007 I committed one day of time to God in prayer. On both of these occasions my time in prayer was an odd combination of walking, driving, praying, questioning, listening, and crying. And on both of these occasions the result of time committed to God profoundly changed my life.

I took a picture during my 2007 prayer time that to this day brings back a flood of thoughts.

God is good and will transform us when we open ourselves to him. Find times to commune with God. You'll be glad you did.

Expectations

For the last few months the concept of expectations has made itself apparent to me time and again. Expectations? Yea, you know. What you expect... Expectations like someone writing something would done know how to use good grammer.  Or expectations of how well your car works.

When I was in high school my dad bought a 1981 V6 Chevrolet Caprice. It was really pretty. It smelled really nice. It had a great ride. But it absolutely never worked. Something was always broken. And if you drove it on the highway for more than 30 minutes it got really tired and would barely go. It was in reality a pathetic car.


For the last couple of years I have driven a GMC Yukon after completely wearing out 3 minivans. 38,000 miles into my GMC it has had only 1 problem of any kind- the dashboard cracked at one side and was replaced under warranty. Other than that it has been an absolutely flawless vehicle.


What is really funny is that in 1981 and 1982 if you asked anyone about the Chevrolet Caprice they would have said it was a great car. But today if you ask anyone about a Yukon they will tell you it's ok. How does that work? An awesome car is o.k. and a pathetic car is good.


Somewhere along the way our expectations have gone through the roof. Maybe it is symptomatic of our times- more, more, more... better, better, better.


But as things have improved our expectations also seem to have increased. We live in a time where we are having trouble finding people who will serve as an elected official because there is an expectation that only people who have no flaws need apply. The problem being that we all have flaws and quirks.


Heightened expectations have also produced an odd byproduct. Christian traits such as patience, mercy, and forgiveness are overrun with expectations of perfection. We expect perfection of our children, our schools, our spouses, our family, our employers, our government, and even our churches.


Perhaps we are demonstrating a type of idolatry because we are expecting god-like perfection of everything but God himself. Placing our expectations of perfection in anything other than God is going to bring frustration and a desire to be critical of everything. Misplaced expectations also encourage us to live by our own ability instead of through faith in God.


What is the solution? Maybe we just need to chill out and lower our expectations!


Seriously!


Maybe we need to offer mercy, grace, peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness to everyone around us. Maybe we need to expect less of others (and ourselves) and be excited when we get more. Maybe we need to raise our expectations for God. Maybe we need to tell others about God instead of about our GMC.