Days of our Lives

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.  Ecclesiastes 9:7

God isn't only interested in our lives when we happen to be around other Christians.  Even when we are at home by ourselves, or in our cars commuting to work, or among our friends, God takes a great interest in our lives.  Every part is one that is searched out by the Holy Spirit.  Every part of our lives are covered by the waters of our baptism, which also means that every part of our lives is covered by the blood and forgiveness of Jesus, which was given to us through the waters of our baptism.

That's a significant thing to remember when we read verses like the one above.  If God is God of every part of our life, and if God has covered every part of our life with Jesus, then even the most ordinary of things like eating and drinking can be done with joy and gladness.  Our eating refreshes the body that God has given to us, and that He has redeemed through Jesus.  Therefore, even eating and drinking are good actions, with the approval of God.  (This does merit a side note when you read the word drinking.  While God doesn't forbid the drinking of alcohol, the over-indulgence of such is spoken of as sin.  So keep that in mind if your thoughts bend that way.)

So if God is interested and rejoices when you eat and drink, what else does He take interest in?  How about every part of your life?  When you sleep, God is greatly interested in you.  When you take your bath/shower, God is supremely interested in you.  When you relax, God is watching you with great delight.  When you spend time with your family, God rejoices over you.  When you share intimate moments with your spouse, God smiles and approves.

These are the days of our lives.  God takes a great interest in every moment, every second, that we live.  True, He knows our tendency to sin, given that it's in our very nature, but He also knows that we are covered through our baptism with the forgiveness and the garment of Jesus.  And believe me, God takes an overwhelming delight in all things Jesus.  So if Jesus covers you, God takes an overwhelming delight in you.  What a great thing to think about this Labor Day weekend!

Friday Randomness

Just a few things flitting through the mind as this Friday afternoon rolls by.

• God calls us to prepare when take different matters on.  This is no less true for spiritual or Gospel matters as it is for daily matters of this life.  We are to count the cost when it comes to our budgets, but also when it comes to planning as God's people in the congregational sense.  When is the last time someone suggested, toward the end of the month, that a family should just have faith, and that God would provide, and then go out and spend money recklessly?  But why do we tend to approach it from that standpoint from time to time in our congregations?
• How boring and mundane does prayer sometimes seem to be?  After all, we often are simply reading prayers, maybe speaking them out loud, or simply sharing what lies in our minds and on our hearts.  It sure doesn't appear to be a powerful thing, or seem to be earth shattering.  But what if God sees those things where we don't see much action taking place as the places where He is most actively at work?  
• When it comes to technology and the church, we are called to practice a great deal of wisdom.  Sure, technology can be a great help and support of the spreading of the Gospel, but technology is not the solution that will suddenly change things such as outreach or evangelism.  Those are still primarily face to face endeavors, where the Holy Spirit works through the shared words.  All other approaches which replace that human element truly do come across as gimmicky.
• The best gift you can give to a younger person in your faith community is to befriend them and take an interest in their life.  It's amazing that research has shown what God has said all along.  When the more mature in the faith take the younger under their wing, the younger ones have a much greater possibility of remaining in their faith and in their activity and participation.  So which young person in your faith community will you take under your wing today?

Just a few things to think about as the Labor Day weekend rolls around.  Be safe, everyone!

The Lord of Your Life

In my role, I tend to do a decent amount of reading.  Yesterday afternoon, I was reading through a few different books and publications, and for some strange reason, it seemed as though I detected a theme coming out.  It wasn't that I had chosen the different reading materials because they all related to each other.  Far from it, they had vastly different topics.  However, a single thought somehow seemed to be coming through to me pretty loudly.

That thought could perhaps best be summed up in a single question.  Is Jesus the Lord of all your life?  At first glance, most Christians would say that He really is.  We recognize the value that Jesus places on our lives, and so we realize that He is Lord of our life.  However, the thought that kept coming back to me focused on the question, so how do we demonstrate that in our life?

Think of it this way.  Is Jesus the Lord of your finances?  Sure, it's easy to overstate this one, but how we make use of the financial gifts God provides for us will certainly demonstrate the centrality of Jesus in our lives.  Do we use our finances for the good of others, and to support God's work and ministry, or do we use them to focus on ourselves and our own wants?

Is Jesus the Lord of your free time?  Or, I could ask it another way.  How does Jesus play a role in your planned trips and vacations?  Again, it would be very easy to overstate this, but is the focus of your vacation only upon your fun and adventure and rest, or does Jesus somehow have a part in what you plan with your vacation time?

Is Jesus the Lord of your family time?  As with all others, this one could also be overstated.  For some of us, we need the reminder that Jesus does indeed have some thoughts on our family time, and we would be wise to heed them.  Spending time with family is something that God greatly desires.  At the same time, does family time centralize in some form or fashion around Jesus, or is it just play time or fun time? 

I write all these things knowing that far too many have overstated them and therefore burned us out on them.  At the same time, I write these things knowing that many of us need the reminder that Jesus is indeed the Lord of all of our lives, and not just the "churchy" parts.  Jesus is part of everything that we do in life, whether we invite Him in or not.  As Christians, it's always a good to remember that Jesus is Lord of our lives, and we benefit greatly when we remember that and live it out.

So Tell Me About Labor

For those of you who are mothers, no, I am not asking about the process of bringing your children into this world.  While I love hearing stories about such things, that's not the topic for today.  Instead, I want to focus once again on the kind of labor that consists of the work we have to do in this world.

The thing is, I want to argue that we, today, in our North American culture and society, have far too narrowly defined work or, to use my word, labor.  We tend to equate it with our work, or our career.  In fact, we do this at the expense of other roles that we  also "work" at, roles such as being a husband or wife, son or daughter, mother or father, caregiver or provider, brother or sister, and many other such roles.

Over the past several years, I've really had my eyes opened to just how in depth God goes when talking about our labor in these other roles.  God has much more to say about how fathers are to treat their children, for example, than in what men should do in their chosen careers.  He talks a lot more about how we relate to one another as neighbor far more than He ever mentions anything about our career.  And yet, in our skewed view of existence, we tend to place the greater importance on the career, often for the simple (and wrongful) reason that it brings home the money on which we live.

There are all sorts of roads I can go down with that, but suffice it to say, God created us to have labor in this world, but labor far more involved than simply our chosen careers.  And God so often seems to take those other labors far more seriously than He does our career.  Without disparaging our career, it truly does seem like being a good father carries far greater implications than in being a good manager, marketer, etc.

If we were to ask God, so, tell me about labor, it truly seems like He would point us to things that are so often not spectacular, but are instead foundational.  And so it shouldn't surprise us when the chief labors of our lives happen to be those things that we are involved in every single day, always in relation to other people.

A Labor of Love

I remember someone once either saying or quoting to me something like this: do what you love, and find a way to get paid for it, and then you're getting paid to do what you love.  In a sense, if you can find a way to get paid to do the things that you most love in life, you'll always love your labor, and your work won't feel much like a burden.

I share these sentiments in some ways.  Actually, in a lot of ways.  I love the labor in which I am engaged.  I find joy in sharing what God has to say, in encouraging and exhorting people, and in teaching people what God says and what that means for their lives.  There is a great joy in that.  Sure, there are some parts of the labor that are a little more tough, like comforting people in loss, supporting them in sickness, or helping them to find solutions to the challenges of life, but really, I more and more believe that God created me with the desire to do that, and I'm very fortunate that it's part of the task to which I am called.

However, I do think that we, in our North American culture and society, have gone too far in one way.  We tend to think of our vocations as merely those places where we go to work.  In a simple, mathematical way, we think Vocation=Work.  And while there is some truth to that, I would argue that God's Word in the Bible displays a much deeper approach to vocation.

Think of it this way.  God doesn't really have a lot to say about the individual directions that we should go in regard to our work in this world.  Whether I work to install carpets, fight fires, stay at home with my child, or minister to people with God's Word, doesn't seem to make that huge of a difference to God.  Sure, He creates us with certain talents, abilities, and desires that tend to work better in one field than another, but overall, it sure doesn't seem that we can choose the "wrong" career in God's eyes.  (Of course, I should mention that any careers which are blatantly sinful would not be included in this category.  I'm sure you can think of a few on your own.)

However, there are a great number of "vocations" that God does say a lot about in the Bible.  Tomorrow I plan to touch on a few of these to show us that God really does have a much greater scope of the thought of vocation than what we tend to apply.  So stay tuned!

Insider or Outsider?

It may not be much of a surprise to some of you, but I was not all that popular growing up.  I was the smart kid in a small school, not particularly athletic, but just good enough to be on the different teams.  I didn't hang out with the "cool" kids on Fridays, preferring to stay home or go about other activities.  In other words, I wasn't an insider.  I was definitely an outsider.

In so many ways, that really doesn't bother me.  Every once in a while, I would feel some level of regret that so many of the other kids at school knew what had happened over the weekend, but overall, it just didn't matter that much to me.  And still today, I hear about different things that go in in the different circles of friends that I have, but more often than not, I'm not that sad to be the outsider.  Perhaps the only place that I truly would hate to be an outsider would be with my immediate family.

I recognize that I am somewhat unique in this way.  So many people want to be an insider.  We hate to be outsiders.  We want to be seen with the "cool" kids or people.  We make a lot of the peer pressure that teens face, but part of our overall reality is that, even as adults, we want to be on the inside.  We want to seem as though we know what's happening.  We want to be included rather than excluded.

In other words, we want the message of acceptance to be communicated.  We want others to communicate what's happening and make us a part of what's going on.  We want to be part of the group, and being part of the group means that we know what's happening.  We're in the loop of the communication.  We feel it rather keenly when we aren't in the loop.  When communication breaks down, we may even start to wonder if others are changing their minds about us.

Now to make a quick turn.  We gather as Christians.  True, we may have our different circles within our congregation, but there is also some sense that we're in this all together.  We have our different levels of being an insider, but when we're part of the group, we are on the inside.  We may not always know everything that's going on, but we know more than those who aren't part of the group.

So what happens when an outsider shows up?  Do we defend our positions as insiders?  Do we force the outsiders to take it upon themselves to become an insider, or do we welcome them and invite them in to be an insider?  Would we rather communicate with the other insiders, or with the outsider?

What message do we communicate if we would rather spend all our time with our fellow insiders, rather than reaching out to the outsiders and inviting them in to our circles?  Does that send the message that we Christians are an exclusive, "cool" group, and others aren't worth our time or effort?  Do we send the message that we want them to be part of the group, and so work diligently to invite them in and welcome them?  I think those are some questions we should all think about, even if they force us to think about our own levels of being an insider or outsider.

"Sticks and Stones"

After reading the title, you've probably already finished the rest of the little catchphrase that I made us of for today.  Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, or something to that effect.  Of course, we all also know that such a statement isn't true.  We tend to heal pretty well from the injuries of sticks and stones.  But sometimes the injuries of words remain for a lifetime.

That's the power of communication.  That imagined slight that someone sent our way sticks in our mind, turning over and over, festering deep inside.  Or, on the positive side, that good word that someone said to us or about us that rejuvenates us and motivates us to keep going.  In some ways, that simply doesn't make sense.  How can something so insubstantial as a word or a group of words have such a tremendous impact on us?

That's where I remember a few words that a man by the name of John wrote many, many years ago.  "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  God chose to communicate to us human beings through His words, spoken by men like prophets, for a long time.  But the, when the fullness of time had come, God clothed His Word with our very own human flesh and blood.  Now the Word would not be something that merely touched our ears, but could physically touch us, just like the proverbial sticks and stones.

A significant part of the Christian faith deals with the impact of words.  Words tell us what God desires and commands from us, and also show us how we fail to do these things.  Words tell us how God has chosen to rescue us, and the form of that rescue, in His own Word becoming flesh and blood.  And that then gives a greater meaning to us when we think about how else our Lord communicates with us.  Jesus communes with us by giving us His own flesh and blood, to eat and to drink, in the holy supper we celebrate.  If words alone can touch us so deeply, how much more so when those words are connected to a truly physical presence as well?

God communicates with us.  The message He truly wants to communicate with us is that He has rescued us and made us fully right with Him.  Those are the kind of joyful words that give us hope and strength when we face the difficult road that lies ahead of us.

Communication

Okay, so what do you think of when you hear the word "communication"?  Do images of telephones leap to your head?  What about conversations with others, in which you relay information on to them?  Do you think of emails, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, and the like?  Or perhaps you're more inclined to think of TV shows and radio news networks.

For a few moments today, I want to reflect on the actual word itself.  When you look at the word "communication", think of the different words that you know which are related to it, or which share a common root.  Communion.  Commune.  Common.  Communicate.  I'm sure you can come up with a few more than my brief little list here.

What do these words all have in common?  (Notice how I slipped that in?  Nice, eh?)  They all speak about something which connects together.  When you think of communion, you think of gathering together with others.  You come together around a specific purpose, which connects you and unites you to the others in the group.  When you live in a commune, you live with like-minded people, sharing your lives together.  When you have something in common, it is shared among all with some degree of equality.  And when you communicate, you connect with one another by sharing information that becomes common for both of you, thus connecting you together.

Communication is of vital importance to us as human beings.  We simply cannot exist without communication with others.  Still to this day, one of the worst threats to prisoners is solitary confinement.  Nations have banned sensory deprivation as a means of interrogation, a means by which a person is cut off from communication with other people and surroundings.  And how often do you hear about someone who does some of the truly despicable actions we have seen in our lifetimes without hearing that they were alone, or didn't communicate and connect with others?  Most often, we hear that they didn't connect with others a lot, and were loners, or spent a lot of time alone.

Communication is vital to our existence.  Without it, things go wrong.  And we communicate by a variety of means, some of which we'll talk about this week.  Even as I write these words, I'm communicating with a lot of you.  And we'll spend a little time looking at the depth to which communication can go, especially as we think about what God has done for us in Jesus.

Evil for Good?

"And why not do evil that good may come?"  Romans 3:8

I've heard the argument from many different angles over the years.  "Christians aren't supposed to be perfect", spoken to give excuse to a particular sin someone enjoyed.  "I want God's grace to shine", as though the more sin one was involved in, the more grace God would provide.  "It's only about God and His grace and forgiveness in Jesus", given as the reason to continue in some sin that that person really didn't want to battle or resist.

Each of these arguments comes back to one thing.  I don't want to give up my sin, even though I know it's sin, so I'll convince myself that God will continually pour out good upon my evil, even if I don't intend to change, to repent of it, or even to consider it as bad.  In other words, why not do evil that good may come? 

Now, there are some things that we should consider.  While God's law calls for complete perfection, God realizes that we are sinful sinners.  We won't be able to be perfect, no matter how hard we try.  However, we also don't admit our inability to do what God says, and then just stop trying to battle against it.  While the sinful nature wants to indulge repeatedly in sin, the new creation wants to do what God says.  In a sense, doing evil that good may come is to continually indulge the sinful nature in the hope that God will simply overlook my intentional sin.

The thing is, God looks much differently at intentional sin than in unintentional sin.  Are both paid for by Jesus on the cross?  Undoubtedly, since that sacrifice covered every sin.  However, does God look at the intentional sin as us choosing sin rather than God?  I have a difficult time thinking otherwise.  After all, if we choose anything other than God, aren't we breaking the commandment against having other gods?  And isn't that the most dire sin of all?

We can never fully do what God says while the sinful nature still exists.  However, as God's Spirit brings Christ's forgiveness to us, the new creation strives to grow in keeping what God says.  Our indulgence of our sin has us basically choosing to side with sin, death, and Satan, the unholy trinity, rather than the Father, Son, and Spirit, the holy Trinity.  And that's where I think Paul's rhetorical question speaks much deeper to us than what we might really want or desire.

Seeking Peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you..."  Jesus in John 14:27

Disruptions happen in our lives with alarming regularity.  We are creatures of habit and routine (at least, many of us are like that), and when things come along that disrupt our habits and routines, we find ourselves somewhat out of sorts.  It may not be a huge disruption, but sometimes even the smallest thing is enough to throw us off track.

Over the past several months, my family and I have been renting a house while we searched for a more permanent home.  In the last couple of weeks, we have closed on the house that will become our home.  We started lining up the various things we wanted to get done before we moved in, and also began packing up everything that we had been using that needed to be moved.  Needless to say, there has been some disruption to our home lives while all of that has been taking place.

I also find this at the office.  The month of August has been set aside to get several work items done, such as new paint and new carpet.  Up to this point, it hasn't greatly affected me, but I know that the day is coming up when everything in my office will need to be moved out for a day or two while new carpet is installed.  Not really a major or long term disruption, but it does change the routine and habit a little bit.

As a creature of habit and routine, I like when things go smoothly.  It seems a lot more peaceful then.  But then again, I have also noticed that, in my line of work, there are a lot of things that simply don't fit themselves into a routine or habit.  And that's when I really start to realize that Jesus is talking about something far deeper than what I might be thinking about in the words quoted above.

The peace that Jesus brings isn't the kind of peace that is going to make everything in this world go smoothly.  Our sinful natures, the presence of sin, and the work of the devil will make sure of that.  Jesus doesn't promise the kind of peace that we tend to think of, such as when people get along without arguments or disruptions, or when life runs smoothly.

Instead, Jesus brings a far deeper peace.  It's the kind of peace that knows that our lives are going to be disrupted regularly, by lack of routine, by sin, by others.  The peace Jesus brings is the kind of peace that says, "sure, it's hectic and crazy, but even in all of that, I'm not going to leave you all alone.  You don't have to face it as though it's you against the world.  I won't allow it to become more than what I created you to handle."

Part of me doesn't like that.  I want Jesus to make things smoother, not simply to remind me that He's there with me and that He's actually limiting the disruptions in my life.  But then, there's definitely something reassuring in knowing that things could actually be a lot worse, and I've got someone with me that makes sure that it's never more than I can manage or handle. 

Music and Meditation

Yesterday was an interesting day.  A week ago yesterday, my wife and I closed on our new house.  That created a flurry of activity.  We had a number of things we wanted to do before we moved in.  Yesterday, several of those matters were starting to get planned out.  But to arrive at some of the choices we had to make was not the easiest of processes.  As with any two people, you rarely see eye to eye on things, and we found ourselves having to work through some of them.

Also, at work a number of different things are kicking off.  Once school starts, so also it seems do many of the regular church activities.  I've been in the process of planning several of these, and a few are right on the horizon. 

So between house and work, things have been somewhat hectic, and more than a little stressed.  I won't complain about it, because I knew what I was getting into.  But it still has the tendency to make it tough to focus at times.

So, on my way home yesterday, I did something that I don't do nearly enough.  I pulled out one of my favorite Christian CDs to listen to it.  I have about 5 favorite songs on the album, and found myself forwarding on to them.  And that's when something amazing happened.  It's almost as though the weight on my shoulders was lightened as I took the brief drive home, simply listening to music which sings about the great things God has done for me.

And that's when I was reminded of why I used to schedule a little time every once in a while to simply listen to some music and reflect on what God has been doing in the context of my life.  Sure, to some, it might appear to be a waste of time.  How can it be productive to sit with eyes closed, listening to music?  Isn't that what teenagers do when they're trying to avoid work?  And yet, I have often found those times to be the ones that prepare me for the work and burden of what lies ahead.  I find times of refreshing in them.

It's at times like yesterday where I understand King Saul in the Old Testament.  The Spirit of the LORD had left him, and an evil spirit was tormenting him.  Yet, when David would play for him, the evil spirit departed and he found peace.  And so, when I find my life getting way too busy, when it feels like stress is building, and tension is high, that seems to be the best time for me to have a little music and meditation.

Does God Want Me To Be Safe?

"In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."  Jesus

The question of safety is one we all face daily.  You get in your car, and what's one of the first things you (supposedly) do?  Put on your seat belt.  Very likely, your car has been tested repeatedly for safety things like impact.  You probably have air bags to keep you safe in an accident.  And safety takes on even bigger impact in other venues.  You go to the airport and have to empty your pockets and walk through scanners, all in the name of safety.

Now, I don't want to downplay the importance of safety to us as humans.  We want to be safe.  In fact, our safety is one of the needs of life, rather than a want.  It's hard to ever be calm or focused if you don't feel safe.  Think about people you know who live in dangerous situations.  They are very stressed, they may not sleep, and it causes a lot of problems for them.  Safety, to some degree, is a need for our human lives.

God recognizes this, which is why we have Him establishing the governing authorities.  One of their roles is the safety of those over whom they have authority.  That is their God-given responsibility.  And yet, the presence of sin in the world also means that safety in this world is a fleeting thing.  To put it another way, we could have a police officer in every classroom in the U.S., but one sinful person bringing a gun to class puts the people in that classroom into danger.

Does God take our safety seriously?  Yes.  However, is our safety God's ultimate priority in this world?  That's where I would venture to answer, "No".  God's primary purpose for us is to be found in Him, in Jesus, so that we inherit the perfect world in which issues of safety are non-issues.  While God wants us to be safe in this world, He also wants us to know that, even in times when we aren't safe, we are still in the blood-stained hands that purchased us, hands which have prepared an eternal, safe kingdom for us to live in forever.

I think we have a duty to teach this to one another, but especially to our children.  Legislation will not bring about ultimate safety.  Sure, it might eliminate a few threats, but the threat of sin never goes away.  Our ultimate safety lays in the fact that we are in the nail-pierced hands of Jesus, and nothing will ever take us away from those hands. 

Making a Home

From 1 Chronicles 17:10; "Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house."

The words above were spoken to King David at a time when he wanted to build a house for the LORD.  But, as God spoke to David through Nathan, God turned the tables on David.  David would not build a house for the LORD, but the LORD would build a house for David.  Not a literal house, but a home, a family, and a line of descendants that would stretch all the way to God's own eternal Son, who would redeem the world.

That is much like God.  We have our ideas of what we would like to do, and then God does even greater things for us, and so often they are unexpected.  I have noticed this in my life quite often, but most recently as God has provided a house for my family and I.  Upon our recent move to Georgia, we rented a house for the majority of this year.  We were often out househunting, and just recently, it seems as though God has dropped a wonderful home right into our laps.  We are very thankful for that gift.

We're also reminded that God has made us a family, and that our family is truly a gift from him.  Without the long story, I can truly say that our little daughter is a gift from God in many ways, not the least of which was the timing of her conception.  God has truly made a house for us in our family.

My family and I don't have a direct promise from God, such as Nathan gave to David, about our house.  However, there is so much about our house that demonstrates God's faithfulness to us, and we simply marvel and respond with our thanks and praise to all that He has provided for us.

Now, if God could only do something to transport all those boxes and all that furniture over there from our rental!

Where's the Interest?

Okay, raise your hand if you read the title and thought you were going to read about some kind of finance article today.  I hate to disappoint you, but that's not going to be our focus today.  Instead, we're going to take a few moments to think about a brief statement of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians in Philippi.

Philippians 2:3-4: "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Okay, it's really easy to lose focus on what Paul is writing here.  I didn't include the next verse because it's the beginning of one of Paul's lengthy run-on sentences.  However, it points us to Jesus, who put our interests ahead of His own, who demonstrated godly humility in serving others, and who endured suffering and death, and is therefore exalted in the eternal kingdom because of that.  And that's the starting point that we always need to keep in mind.  We're able to look to the interests of others because Jesus has already looked to our interests.

As God gives new birth to the new creation within us, that new creation looks to live as Jesus did.  That means that the new creation looks for opportunities to look to the interests of others.  That happens when we set aside our own comfort or preference in order to do what is needful to others, especially when it comes to their relationship with Jesus.

Part of the reason I don't want to give examples of this is because God literally gives so many into our lives on a daily basis that we almost can't miss them.  I also don't want to confine how we look to the interests of others by my own suggestions.  Some of these come more naturally to us than others.  Some people are better at one aspect of this than others.  But we all have gifts and uncounted opportunities to look to the interests of others.

Within the household of God, this is especially true.  In fact, if I could characterize it a bit, we should almost be tripping over ourselves to look to what is good for others, rather than fighting for our own wants and preferences.  It would be great if our first question consistently was, "How does this nurture the sharing of the good news?"  Perhaps a bit of a pipe dream, though it does happen more frequently than we sometimes think.

Whose interests are you going to look toward today?  Remember, it's not necessarily at the expense of your own (after all, Paul says not to ONLY look to your own interests; there is a level of expectation that you should take care of what God has given you), but when you put the interests of others ahead of your own, you are giving a gift of grace.  And isn't grace at the heart and soul of our life together as Christians?

Talking Personally About Faith

Researchers assert that it's a lost art.  In fact, not too long ago, I read an article from a Christian leadership website that made the assertion that most church-going people don't talk about their faith.  Now, anytime I hear statements like that, I wonder what exactly they mean by that.  I think there are levels of faith talk that are important for us to consider, and I can see where researchers may be lead to make assertions like this.

First, there is the level of simply talking about church life.  You go to a church, you like your church, and so you talk with other people about your church.  This is a relatively safe level.  You aren't really getting into anything too personal nor too controversial.  This level of conversation revolves around talk of activities and who attends the activities.  Sure, you may talk about what you learned at one of the activities, but this level still remains fairly generic, in a sense. 

Then, there's the level of talking about why your church does the things that it does.  To use an example, this is where you talk with others about why your church wants to have an active youth group.  You want to help kids out.  You want to provide a safe environment for them.  You want them to grow up and know the faith of their parents.  You're getting a little deeper into reasons, and as you do that, you open yourself up a bit more.  Maybe you don't like the direction, or you think there are other things that could take place that would do a better job.  Maybe the person you are talking to doesn't see it as an important issue.  The deeper you go, the more open you are about yourself.

This previous level is one that we sometimes dive into.  But to take it to the next level is the challenging one, and the one that I would imagine most researchers are actually talking about when they say that people don't talk about their faith.  This is the level at which you explain WHY you believe what you believe.  It's the level where you talk about the specifics of WHAT you believe, and how it impacts your life.  It gets very personal.  It opens you up to the other person.  They can see your motivations.  They see those things that are important to you. 

Now, from one standpoint, it's kind of understandable why church people would be reluctant to go to this last level.  It's very personal, and we tend to only open ourselves up to those that we know, with whom we have developed trust.  But that's also the very thing that is hard to build if we don't open ourselves up to others.  We are afraid that someone might not understand, or that they might see us in a less positive light if we reveal these things about ourselves.  And so, we clam up about talking about what Jesus means to me, and why it's important that I believe He rose from the dead.  We have a hard time talking about the hope that we have in the resurrection.  And as we struggle with that, many look at us and wonder why we have such a tough time speaking about it if it's so important to us.

Maybe we need practice at this.  Maybe we need to take a new approach, that of opening ourselves up to others regardless of what they do with our openness.  And maybe, as we do that, we'll get more comfortable doing it, and our conversations can move from the first level to the last level, and that just might be the means by which God's Spirit works to draw them to Jesus through us.