Thursday, February 25, 2010

moving forward?

We know if we keep doing church like we are doing it, it will probably only grow more irrelevant to today’s culture. but if moving forward feels, looks, or sounds like this...maybe we should just try to survive as long as we can and let the next generation figure it out.
from Tangible Kingdom

So, I am reading this book that a friend gave me and I am being blown away. I am convicted, convinced and compelled...not by the words of an author, but by the thoughts of my own heart that are CRAZY and don't line up with the Word.
If there is a word that defines my heart it is simply found in the word MORE. I want more. I am not a settler. I don't settle. I am an all or nothing, full on or not all kind of girl. There is little grey, little in between and little that I don't go mock 90 doing. I want more from my life, more from my relationships and more of God. And I want more out of church. I don't want the status quo, religious jargon of our day. I don't want to be entertained and I don't want to go so far chasing more that I lose what is right. If anyone spends much time with me, they will see my pursuit of more, my push for more in others and my heart to bring more of God's presence to wherever and whomever. It is the very thing that people love me for...but also the same thing others hate.
I say all of that to simply state...that sometimes in order to get more, you have to press through and let go of some really hard stuff. And there are moments when you wonder if it is worth the fight. Moments when all of may want to say...let's just settle and let someone else, the next generation...figure it out. Moments when you say, I have done enough. I am done.
That is where WHO I am kicks in. I am not a settler and I am rarely done. I have NO interest in surviving. I want MORE than just surviving life, surviving the day to day, surviving church, surviving relationships...I want the abundant, supernatural, MORE that God promises to those who seek Him. I don't want to be bound in rules, but to long to please HIM so much that I choose the right thing because I love HIM, not because I am forced to. I don't want to keep doing what we have always done simply because it is easier than change. I don't want to give up because it doesn't seem worth it. I Won't let go of the promise of more.
What if Joshua had done that? It was hard. Every where his foot stepped there was another battle. And people who stood against him, people who were lazy, who didn't follow directions and who tried to turn back. This is why God's Word to Joshua was BE STRONG and COURAGEOUS. DO NOT FEAR. I am with YOU. Don't turn to the right or the left.
Christy's interpretation: Don't be afraid of people, places, circumstances, giants or threats. Hang on to me because I have my grip on you. I AM WITH YOU. Don't look at the distractions to the right or left...you walk into battle and fight, knowing I am on your side.
Because of Joshua's tenacity in not settling, because he didn't listen to the people who wanted to go back, because he was bold an entire generation got to enter the promised land...the MORE. But only because HE was willing to fight the battles to get them there.
So the quote above hits me where it hurts. Will we merely survive and let someone else fight the battle. Or will we be the JOSHUA who doesn't settle on the outskirts of the more, but instead fights for it.
ALL FOR YOU