CCM's Called to Live Abundantly

There comes a point in our life when it feels as though life has short changed us. We expected more from friends, family, significant others, careers, finances, religion and the list goes on. This is when we scramble to evaluate our past and present attitudes, behaviors, relationships, opportunities and even goals to find out if anything went wrong or if we missed something. It’s almost as if though something or someone is prompting us to take action on our life.

Personally, I have found this stage to be an almost unbearable struggle. There's a sense of lost time, of missed opportunities, an increased awareness of my own shortsightedness and character flaws are a dime a dozen. At the same time I’ve experience a rollercoaster of emotions. Guilt, anger, frustration, depression, anxiety, and yes even small moments of joy have given me the strongest indication that this can’t be all there is, there has to be more to life than this.

Well, this is where I just want to put in my two cents worth. I think some of that feeling has to do with where one is in life. I would even go as far as saying that there’s a natural maturing process that brings us to this realization or way of thinking. But what’s not part of the natural maturing process is what one decides to do with this state of mind. This is a matter of decision not a matter of what one feels or senses that moves us forward.

As usual, when I find myself in these situations it never fails that I come across others who have or are feeling the same way. In this case, two of my closest friends, a pastoral couple with years of devotion to God and the Christian faith; have expressed their desire to get more out of life as well. After a few conversations with them I discovered a valuable spiritual lesson. I discovered that this is the calling.

Yes, that’s right, the calling. You know, the idea you heard growing up that one day God would call you? Well that’s what I’m talking about. Did you expect something more glamorous or perhaps more miraculous? Well before you dismiss its apparent lack of supernatural luster; let me put it in the context of Scripture for you.

Do you remember when Jesus called his first disciples? There wasn’t any supernatural manifestation, no beaming light, no parting of the heavens, nothing! Just a simple invitation to follow him and get more out of life. Jesus knew that if they remained in the fishing business they would do well for themselves and their families but He wanted them to get more out of life than just what their livelihood could provide. He wanted them to provide the entire world with the livelihood of heaven! He said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” The rest of the story is incredible. At the close of his gospel account John says that if all the things that Jesus ever did were to be written, he figures that even the world itself could'nt contain the books of his all his works. Now I don’t know of any fishing business, or any other business for that matter, that could compete with that!

Here is where I hope my two cents make up for the short changing you’ve felt; if you’re at the point where you want more out of life; that’s God calling you.

Bible references: Matthew 4:18-21, John 21:25

When Tomorrow Never Comes

If you’ve grown up in the church, then as a youth you probably got an earful of the “you’re the church of tomorrow” speech from the older folk. I have to admit, even though I knew it was a bit cliché, as a youth I found a sense of value and empowerment in the idea that one day the torch of faith would be passed on to me. Like the runner who enthusiastically passes the Olympic torch on to the next person in order to reach its final destination, I thought those who ran before me would gladly trust in my ability to carry the torch of faith firmly gripped in my hand. But instead when the time came for me to turn on the afterburners and go, I couldn’t run with ease. Why? Because the previous runner was still holding on to the torch! Yeah…can someone say crash and burn?

Now that I’m a young adult, 30 years old to be exact, I still get the earful of the “you’re the church of tomorrow” speech from the older generation! At this point though, I’m no longer overwhelmed with a sense of value and empowerment, instead it makes me think I’m trapped in the movie Groundhog Day, where the same day plays over and over again. I feel helpless. Plus it makes me question the nature of the relationship between those my age and the faith-giants we’ve looked up to for support and guidance since our youth.

I still remember one night at a church board meeting. The pastor suggested the idea that the church develop a second service program led out by young adults for young adults. While some saw it as an opportunity to encourage the involvement and spur the growth of the young adult population, some of the older members rejected the idea on the basis that they didn’t believe the young adults were able to handle the responsibility. Mind you most, if not all, of the young adults in my church have successful professional careers, are involved in at least one ministry, and have been in church most, if not all, of their lives! Some board members even suggested that we start a service in the gym. By the way, the gym was not aesthetically pleasing in any way and on top of that it was removed from the main church building. My heart sank to the floor. Was this any way to treat the “church of tomorrow” or "today" or whatever...

Now I’d like to think that this is not a common outlook or experience between those my age and the older more traditional generation. But the other day I read that recent Barna Group research found that a majority of American youth raised in the church have left it by age 29 (about the age i found out I was still the "church of tomorrow"). The article attributes this statistic to the failure of churches to pass on (or let go of) the Christian identity for the next generation to carry. But I also think that young people become discouraged in church and in life because “tomorrow” never comes. Their time to shine is overlooked and they get tired of the same old “you’re the church of tomorrow” charade.

I hate to give the older generation a hard time and I know not everyone in the traditional generation has the same mentality. But I know others have had this same experience. To be fair, I can’t totally blame the older generation though. The younger generation does have enough defects to make the hairs on your neck stand up. It may be that the older generation has a hard time passing on that identity because they feel it’s not taken seriously.

The thing is, though, to remember that faith and truth does not belong to one generation. No single generation can lay claim to the absolute truth and think another generation less worthy to understand or use it. God gives each generation the light and wisdom that it needs. Remember that faith and truth belong to all and it comes from God. When the promise of “tomorrow” never comes or we try to hang on to the torch of faith we jeopardize that basic principle that makes the gospel relevant to people’s lives. It loses its beautiful divine attributes and becomes just another political ploy. In the end we have to learn to let go and let faith grow in the hearts of others through the working of God’s spirit, not our own. CCM’s don’t let another generation experience a “tomorrow” that never comes. We can’t afford it.

CCM's: The Flip Side of the Culture Maker

The first time I came across the term “culture maker” was on the cover of the September 2008 issue of Christianity Today. The cover story was titled “The New Culture Makers” followed by this description, “From inner-city little leagues to modern art initiatives, more and more Christians are making something of the world.”

Andy Crouch is a Christian writer and author of the book “Culture Making: Recovering our creative calling.” In his book Crouch encourages Christians to engage their cultural surroundings by creating cultural goods. In other words Christians are called to use their resources and creative abilities to impact our broken culture in a positive way and make a difference in the world.

Crouch’s approach to the non-Christian culture made me think about the flip side of things. What about the Christian culture? Christian culture is just as vulnerable to decay as the world’s culture. Spiritualism, ecumenism, humanism, and other cultural “isms” can do a lot to break up Bible-based Christianity. Unfortunately the decay of Christian culture goes largely undetected. Much of the reason is the readily accepted belief that all Christianity is fundamentally the same and that Biblical differences are really minor and don’t matter.

But what if they do? What if those differences end up contributing to an overall weaker and less effective form of Christianity? I believe this would grieve the very heart of Christ who laid all on the line to give us an unblemished and uncompromised picture of the nature of God and His kingdom.

I love Crouch’s approach to the non-Christian culture because it passionately embraces one of the fundamental principles of Christianity- to reach out and make a difference. Just like a culture maker is someone who makes something of the world, a CCM is someone who looks out for the world around them but most importantly the spiritual kingdom they belong to.