About this time last year I was really dreading the thought of Lent and the expectation that I should fast from something.  I was having a bit of a rough season in pastoral life, and, to be candid, needed comfort.  Comfort food, comfort drink, comfort whatever.  [...]]]> My post today at Fuller Seminary’s The Burner blog:

About this time last year I was really dreading the thought of Lent and the expectation that I should fast from something.  I was having a bit of a rough season in pastoral life, and, to be candid, needed comfort.  Comfort food, comfort drink, comfort whatever.  The thought of forgoing anything comfort-inducing was about as appealing as a root canal.

But as I was praying (read: griping while God patiently listened), the Spirit began to direct me to my deeper need – deeper comfort.  Comfort that still comforts when the food is digested and Merlot glass is emptied.  I emerged from my time of prayer with this thought:

Lent is about experiencing more.

This is counterintuitive, as part of traditional Christian worship during Lent is to give up things we love dearly – things like meals, meats, wine, or chocolate.  But therein lies the beauty and wisdom of Lenten worship.  We give up only so we can get more of what our deepest heart truly wants – more of the satisfaction, peace, rest, and trust that comes as we deepen a love relationship with Jesus.

It’s easy to get the wrong idea about Lent (and about fasting in general) that forgoing pleasure is a virtue in and of itself.  This is not a Christian thought, but a pagan one.  Our faith fully embraces bodily existence and encourages the pleasures of food, drink, sex, etc. (in their right quantities and contexts).

Or we can mistakenly think that the point of going without things that are dear to us is to help us feel guilt for our sins.  Not so.  Nothing in Scripture suggests that God takes pleasure in our wallowing in sins that Jesus died to forgive and free us from.

Lenten worship is about setting aside lesser loves so that we can enter more deeply into the love of God in Christ.  It is about “rightly ordered desires,” as the ancients would say–that is, it is about keeping our appetites in their proper place.  God’s desire is that the good and healthy pleasures of this life cause us to appreciate the Giver of the gifts;  fasting from these things helps us keep proper perspective, as well as keeping us from becoming enslaved to our appetites.

Lent is about experiencing more:

More prayer – as hunger pangs prompt us to pray,

More gratitude – as we appreciate the sufferings Christ undertook on our behalf,

More fellowship – as we undertake the Lenten experience together with brothers and sisters, and ultimately,

More worship – as we reflect on the God who gave up all for us, and who fills our lives with such good gifts.  As C. S. Lewis said, “One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam back to the sun.”

In our congregation we put it this way – the practice of Lent is simple to understand yet challenging to carry out: prayerfully choose something you will forego, and as you become aware of its absence, use that as opportunity to pray and to worship.  Worshipers at Life have fasted from foods like desserts or alcohol; from technology they have become unbalanced in like facebook or television; from negative habits like complaining or fault-finding.

I’m keeping mine simple this year and fasting from food one day each week, and using that time to pray for friends that I want to find Christ.  And part of my discipline is trying to gently remain focused, not on what is given up…

…but on what is gained.

Almighty God, who of Thine infinite wisdom hast ordained that I should live my life within these narrow bounds of time and circumstance, let me now go forth into the world with a brave and trustful heart. It has pleased Thee to [...]]]> From my current devotional reading, A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie:

Almighty God, who of Thine infinite wisdom hast ordained that I should live my life within these narrow bounds of time and circumstance, let me now go forth into the world with a brave and trustful heart. It has pleased Thee to withhold from me a perfect knowledge; therefore deny me not the grace of faith by which I may lay hold of things unseen. Thou hast given me little power to mould things to my own desire; therefore use Thine own omnipotence to bring Thy desires to pass within me. Thou hast willed it that through labour and pain I should walk the upward way; be Thou then my fellow traveller as I go.

Let me face what Thou dost send with the strength Thou dost supply:

When Thou prosperest my undertakings, let me give heed that Thy word may prosper in my heart:

When Thou callest me to go through the dark valley, let me not persuade myself that I know a way round:

Let me not refuse any opportunity of service which may offer itself to-day, nor fall prey to any temptation that may lie in wait for me:

Let not the sins of yesterday be repeated in the life of to-day, nor the life of to-day set any evil example to the life of to-morrow.

O God of my forefathers, who hast in every age enlightened the souls of the faithful, I thank Thee for the gift of racial memory whereby the storied past still lives with us to-day. I thank Thee for the lives of the saints, and for the help thhat I may win from their example. I thank Thee for the memory of …. and …. and ….; for apostles, prophets, and martyrs; but most for the Incarnation of Thy dear Son, in whose name these my prayers are said. Amen.

O Merciful Father, who dost look down upon the weaknesses of Thy human children more in pity than in anger, and more in love than in pity, let me now in Thy holy presence inquire into the secrets of my heart.

Last year Rob Bell [...]]]> I’m still a fan of Rob Bell, even if I think he missed the mark with his latest book.  Today on Out of Ur he gives a great interview with Skye Jethani on the subject of calling.  What do you think about this assertion that any work can be God’s work?

Last year Rob Bell made waves with his book Love Wins which he describes as "a book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who has ever lived." The waves became a tsunami when John Piper tweeted "Farewell, Rob Bell" and dismissed him as a heretic. Agree or disagree with his point of view, Bell knows how to stir conversation. And there is one thing about Love Wins we cannot dismiss- how we think about the future shapes how we live in the present.

I’ve had the benefit of interviewing Bell a number of times and have always found him thoughtful, gracious, and genuine in his pursuit of Christ. He was kind enough to talk to me once again–this time about his decision to leave his church, the lost theology of vocation, and how our view of the end of the world impacts the way we think about our work today.

Skye: Apart from ministry, Christians talk very little about "callings." What do you attribute this to?

Rob: The problem goes back to how you read the Bible. A lot of Christians have been taught a story that begins in chapter 3 of Genesis, instead of chapter 1. If your story doesn’t begin in the beginning, but begins in chapter 3, then it starts with sin, and so the story becomes about dealing with the sin problem. So Jesus is seen as primarily dealing with our sins. Which is all true, but it isn’t the whole story and it can lead people into all kinds of despair when it comes to understanding just why we’re here.

The Bible begins in Genesis 1 not with sin but with blessing, not with toil and despair but with life, and creativity, and vibrant participation with God in the ongoing creation of the world–which involves art, and law, and medicine, and education, and parenting, and justice, and learning, and thousands of other pursuits; callings that are holy and sacred in and of themselves. It’s all part of flourishing in God’s good world, which is our home. Here, on earth, is where the story begins and where it ends, and so our work here, in whatever way we co-create with God, is our vocation.

Secondly, we have to embrace our desires. For many, desire is a bad word, something we’re supposed to "give up for God." That kind of thinking can be really destructive because it teaches people to deny their hearts, their true selves. What Jesus does is something far more radical. He insists that we can be transformed in such a way that our desires and God’s desires for us become the same thing. Incredible. What do you love to do that brings more and more heaven into God’s good world? What is it that makes your soul soar? What is it that you do, that your friends and community affirm, that taps you in to who you are made to be?

Describe how you discerned God’s calling to leave Mars Hill to pursue new ideas?

It was a vast array of factors, beginning deep in the heart with the awareness that Jesus was calling, inviting, tugging, doing that thing he does when it’s time to take a leap into the unknown.

Can you share more about where your energies are currently focused, and why you believe it is an important calling?

Nope. Haha. It’s better to do the work and wait until it’s ready to be released into the world. But it involves resurrection, of course, and the new world that’s bursting forth right here in the midst of this one.

What/who has influenced your theology of calling and work?

Dallas Willard, and U2, and Steven Pressfield, and Dorothy Sayers. Do what you do with every ounce of energy and passion you have, give it everything you’ve got, put in the hours and pour out the sweat and blood and don’t hold anything back. That’s an act of worship, it is holy in itself.

Don’t make grand claims about what it is, don’t tell people what they’re supposed to think about it, it will speak for itself. Let the Spirit do what the Spirit will with it. And most of all, enjoy the work. And while you’re at it, relinquish the need to label everything "Christian" or "not Christian." Be a Christian. People can figure the rest out. It’s a noun, after all.

Reformation theologians took "vocation," a word previously only applied to the clergy, and applied it to all believers. They promoted the idea that all work was God’s work. What can we do to reclaim this belief in our communities?

Stop using the word ‘missionary’ and stop sending people out to the ‘mission field.’ Or keep the word, but also commission public school teachers, and dentists, and CPA’s, and construction workers, and those people who take your money at the toll booth. We’re all disciples, all ground is holy, every interaction and conversation is loaded with divine potential, anytime, anywhere. Ordain everyone, call everyone a minister, invite the whole church to be on staff.

You’ve obviously gotten a lot of attention for your thoughts about eschatology in the last year. How does one’s vision of the future impact their work in the present?

The gospel is an embodied announcement about this world: it is good, and we’re home, and the word took on flesh and moved into the neighborhood. Heaven and earth are, in fact, coming together. We’re home. Soil is good, and so is wine, and sex, and music, and muscle, and arranging things, and building things, and getting hungry people the food they need, and jobs that empower people to make better lives for themselves.

What you believe about where the story is headed deeply impacts how you live now and what you believe matters, now. We’re not trying to help people evacuate. That’s a denial of the gospel truth that Jesus is reclaiming everything.

Amy Sherman, in her recent book Kingdom Calling, argues that popular eschatology has eroded the Christian understanding of vocation. She writes, "If we (mistakenly) believe that at the end, the earth will be completely destroyed and that just our souls will live on forever, it’s a bit hard to imaging being passionate for such things as environmental stewardship or cultural reformation…. If it’s all going to be burned up, isn’t our labor here on earth in vain?" How do you respond to Christians holding this view?

The truth is, people who hold these escapist views usually throw crap parties, because they’re essentially waiting for things to end so they can go somewhere else. Jesus shows up at the party, turns water into wine, and then essentially says "Oh we are just getting started…"

If a 20 year old told you she was entering full-time ministry because she wanted to serve God and make a difference in the world, what questions would you have for her? How would you respond?

I would ask her if she’s a Christian. If she said "yes," I would say "Too late! You’re already in full-time ministry! The real question is: what are you going to do with your God-given passions and energies? Who are you going to help? What are you going to make? Where are you going to serve? Go do that, and release yourself from the need to give it labels.

From my current devotional reading, A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie:

O Omnipresent One, beneath whose all-seeing eye our mortal lives are passed, grant that in all my deeds and purposes today I may behave with true courtesy and honor.  Let me be just and true in all my dealings.  Let no [...]]]>

From my current devotional reading, A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie:

O Omnipresent One, beneath whose all-seeing eye our mortal lives are passed, grant that in all my deeds and purposes today I may behave with true courtesy and honor.  Let me be just and true in all my dealings.  Let no mean or low thought have a moment’s place in my mind.  Let my motives be transparent to all.  Let my word be my bod.  Let me take no unchivalrous advantage of anybody.  Let me be generous in my judgement of others.  Let me be disinterested in my opinions.  Let me be loyal to my friends and magnanimous to my opponents.  Let me face adversity with courage.  Let me not ask or expect too much for myself.

Yet, O Lord God, let me not rest content with such an ideal of manhood as men have known apart from Christ.  Rather let such a mind be in me as was in Him.  Let me not rest till I come to the stature of HIs own fullness.  Let me listen to Christ’s question: What do you more than others?  And so may the threefold Christian graces of faith, hope, and love be more and more formed within me, until all my walk and conversation be such as becometh the gospel of Christ.

O Thou whose love to man was proven in the passion and death of Jesus Christ our Lord, let the power of His Cross be with me today.  Let me love as He loved.  Let my obedience be unto death.  In leaning upon His Cross, let me not refuse my own; yet in bearing mine, let me bear it by the strength of His.

O Thou who hast set the solitary in families, I crave Thy heavenly blessing also for all the members of this household, all my neighbors, and all my fellow citizens.  Let Christ rule in every heart and His law be honored in every home.  Let every knee be bent before Him and every tongue confess that He is Lord.  Amen.

This had to be one of my all time favorite midwinters.  Great ministry happened, lots of [...]]]> It’s Thursday evening and I’m flying over the Rockies on my way home to the family.  Taking a break from message prep (big Sunday – new location, and first ever Sunday am service) to record a couple of thoughts.

This had to be one of my all time favorite midwinters.  Great ministry happened, lots of holy moments, lots of laughter.  The laughter – those had to be my favorite parts.  I spent rich time with friends eating, talking, praying, a tear here and there, laughing, much of it over some great local microbrew.  (Total meals eaten: 9.  Total that were free to me: 7.  Perhaps my best midwinter food score ever.)

There is something special that happens when pastors are together.  You never have to explain either the pains or the joys, just state them.  Heads nod and eyes convey understanding – they just automatically get it.  There are a lot of studies out there that talk about how lonely pastors often are (their wives too).  Usually this isn’t from an absence of friends so much as an absence of understanding.  When you are with other pastors, you’re automatically understood – you very quickly feel known.  What a grace, what fellowship.

Three more hours until home, my wife, and little girls who can’t wait to hug me.  This too is spiritual.

Not to brag, but my scorecard so far is looking [...]]]> I think the real goal of all church planters at Midwinter is to see how much free food they can consume.  And they should, and normally do, pursue this with not the least bit of shame but as the sacred quest that it truly is.

Not to brag, but my scorecard so far is looking pretty good:

Monday dinner: opening banquet

Tuesday breakfast: eggs and potatoes at a coaches’ meeting

Tuesday lunch: Giordano’s amazing stuffed pizza with Pacific Southwest church planting crew

Tuesday dinner: alas, I had to buy my own meal

Tuesday late night snack: church planter reception

And I’m just getting warmed up . . .

But it was a great day of ministry and fellowship.  Led a great meeting this morning for our coaches – it’s great to know you’ve got the right people in the room, and we do.  Praise God for the gifted men and women stepping into this role.  Then this afternoon I taught a workshop based on my book to a nice full room of pastors and leaders.  Great interaction, great people.  Finished the day with some exceptional pasta and wine with good friends, and a late night party with way more church planters than fire codes would legally allow in a hotel suite.  Like a family reunion.  Grace.