I have a friend, his name is Tanveer. What an uncommon name. It's uncommon even for indian name, he told me. 5 minutes ago tanveer was sitting in my room, sacrificing precious sleep to hang out and talk to me. it's 11 o clock on a school night. I love Tanveer because I can always count on him to go on an adventure with me, no matter what the cost. Now that i think about it tanveer and i have covered a lot of ground together. We have driven 12 hours to rhode island to visit my dying grandfather, we have explored the heart of dc, and we have trekked through the rainforests of costa rica together. I'm only 17...holy cow man. What's next?
When i started writing this blogpost my intent wasn't really to talk about Tanveer. My goal was to talk about adventure found in Christ. But as i continue writing i realize that the two go hand in hand.
I'm reading a book called Wild at Heart by John Eldridge. In it the author makes the point that Jesus was more than just a "nice guy". He had to be. If Jesus Christ was just a nice guy, or a good guy, he wouldn't have been put to death on a cross. No one ever crucified Mister Rogers.
I have learned that a great number of Americans have this idea that God just wants us to be nice girls and boys. To get along in the sandbox. I consider myself to have been raised in a Christian home, and to some degree i was raised to simply be a "good guy". It sucks, really. I ask myself where in the bible this sort of thinking comes from, because i don't see it. When i read about Jesus i see a man who calls other men to leave families and ordinary ways of life to live radically with him.
Only when the men in the world stop trying to simply be "nice guys" and start living lives of adventure, obedience, and reliance on Christ will we actually have real men in this world.
If Jesus isn't just a good guy, then who is he? I bet if you asked 100 people this question you would get 100 different answers, and therein lies the beauty of who He is. Jesus reveals himself differently to every person who claims to know Him, and because life with Christ is a relationship we all know him in a different way. Thus, to simply say that Jesus Christ was a good guy is to simplify and dilute the entirety of his life to little more than a feel good story. That is the kind of God you can put in a box. I don't know about you, but i don't want a God that i can fit into a box.
it's 11:58 pm. i have to be somewhere in 7.5 hours. good thing i napped today.
The Lord will fight for you. He is adventurous. He will lead you.
When the soldiers came to arrest Him they fell down at the first words he spoke. They backed away. They trembled at his voice. If i'm pickin sides, i want this guy. I've realized lately that this is the kind of God that i am following. I am following a warrior, a fighter. A God that not only gives me the authority to take his message to the gates of hell and back, but promises that i won't be overcome by those very gates. I am still unsure what to think about this...crazy stuff.
A week ago i found myself in the rainforests of Costa Rica. On one such day i was climbing up the side of a water fall with a few other fellas, carelessly adventuring to the top. As i reflect on this i find it baffling that none of us came away seriously injured or even dead. There were different moments when the slip of a foot or the uprooting of a branch being clung to could have meant trouble. Not only that, but falling rocks quite nearly took out more than one of us. Remember my friend Tanveer? He stared death in the face when he came across a snake whose venom takes only 3 minutes to silence a man's beating heart once and for all. And to think he almost picked it up...oh tanny. But amidst all the danger and all the uncertainty existed a single voice of assurance for each one of us. During those moments we all knew, no believed, that as we were hurling our bodies to the top of that mountain we were simply trying to keep up with the God of the universe blazing the trail in front of us.
When one comes to believe that our Christ is one of adventure and risk, that adventure and risk seems to find its way into his or her life.
My prayer is that when i die i'm not just remembered as a good guy. The world seems to have enough of those already. I hope that every part of me is forgotten, and that the life i lived for Jesus is remembered. The world could use some more of him.
I apologize if this post seems scattered. I changed my mind about 4 times of what i wanted it to be about. Tanveer....love you bud.
It's 12:30. I'm sleepy. Night all
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thoughts about Leading
My sister came home from college this past weekend. We sat in mill mountain and talked for hours. Apparently a lot happens in college. Apparently it happens fast too. But as busy as she is, and as many stories that she told me, one thing she said sticks out greater than any other. She recently began leading Young Life at Charlottsvile High School, so consequently we were talking about leading. Specifically leading young life, yes. But also leading in general. At one point she looked at me and said, "You can't lead someone to a place where you aren't". Cool, right? I thought about it and realized that it's true. The only reason Martin Luther King Jr. was able to lead a revolution in this country is because he was leading his followers and believers to ideas that he wholeheartedly believed. King had a vision, and in his mind he was already living in a world free of the racial bondage that so engulfed the present. King led his followers to the world that he dreamed of, a place that King already believed existed. A place that in his mind, King already lived in. A leader must lead his or her followers to a place where he or she already is. Likewise, a leader can't lead a group to a place where he or she isn't. What does that look like? It looks like a brokenhearted pastor preaching to a congregation on sunday morning about the importance of purity and how sacred marriage is, when in reality he is held trapped by his lust, caught hiding his sin of an alduterous marriage. Maybe that is why so many people dismiss the Christian Church. There are a lot of fakes. A lot of pastors and leaders who claim to be somebody they are not. Who claim to know Jesus Christ but don't. I don't like to bag on the Church, but this has been on my heart recently. I see it in my school. I see it in my church. Heck i see it in myself sometimes.
It's raining tonight. It seems like it rains every night these days. I don't know. I bought a rain jacket last week. I've never had a rain jacket before. I have a history test tomorrow. It's 10:30. But reader, whoever you are, you're worth it to keep writing.
There's a difference between being a leader in the Church and being any sort of other leader. I have come to realize this recently perhaps more than anything else. Being a leader for the sole purpose of wanting kids to come to know their savior changes everything. You are no longer leading someone to yourself. You aren't even leading a person to an idea. You are leading him/her to another person. I would go so far as to say that if you end up leading this person to yourself rather than Christ, you have completely failed. If you miss Christ you miss everything.
I started discipling a group of 7th grade guys a couple of weeks ago. It's hard as crap. It's bonkers. My prayer is that i do not lead these fellas to myself. Like i mentioned earlier, a leader can't lead people to a place he/she is not. I can't lead these guys to Jesus unless i am there myself. This has changed the way i lead.
It's still raining. I lit a candle. I like candles. This one smells like the beach. I like the beach. Did i mention i have a history test tomorrow? oh and a calc quiz. It's gonna be a late night. Confession: i haven't decided whether or not to use proper grammar when i blog. So sumtimes i mite talk liiike dis.
I mentioned that being a leader in the church is different. I said it's different because you are not leading people to yourself, but rather to someone else. How is this different than anything else? I'm glad you asked. I will tell you. Think of great leaders in history. Martin Luther King? He led people in large part to himself and his ideas. Obama? He wouldn't be the powerful man he is today if he wasn't constantly leading people to himself. Oprah? She has a tv network now. She named it after herself. Enough said. Now let me throw some other names at you. Francis Chan. Matt Chandler. Don Miller. Clayton King. John Piper. Maybe you know these guys. Maybe you don't. Each of these guys is a predominant figure in the Christian Church today. These guys have led hundreds, if not thousands, of people to Jesus. You might be thinking, "well then why haven't i heard of them?!". The Answer, these guys didn't lead people to themself. They have done amazing things in this world. Not to their own glory, but to God's. And that is what it takes to be a great Christian leader today.
Note: if you pick up a book in the Christian section of the bookstore and the cover has the author's face on it, chances are he/she is to some leading others to himself/herself rather than Jesus. Which means he/she is also to some degree leading others away from Christ. Just sayin.
A final thought. Perhaps what the Church needs this day in age is to focus on raising up real leaders in the church rather than fakes. Evangelism is pointless unless there are strong leaders in place to walk with new believers. Leaders who will not lead others to himself or herself, but rather to Christ. Jesus bet it all on his 12 disciples. He bet the entire future of the Church on 12 genuine leaders who did not have a personal agenda, but rather believed solely in the purpose of leading others to Christ. Jesus didn't have a plan B. Why then, does the Church today put so much emphasis on evangelism, and so little on discipleship? It doesn't make sense to me. When i met the Lord i was lucky enough to have 5 or 6 older guys, leaders, around me to walk with me. Without them i would have fallen away. I would not be following Christ today. In a lot of ways evangelism serves little purpose unless there is a genuine community of leaders to walk with new Christians. And hopefully these leaders will lead these people to a place where they already are. Otherwise, it won't work. People won't believe you. People won't believe in what you are trying to lead them to. And in a situation as eternally meaningful as leading kids to Jesus, already being in the place you are trying to lead to is essential.
This post is really long. If you have kept reading up until this point, thank you. It means a lot. I have been typing this for 67 minutes, and you know what? It's still raining, my candle is still burning, and my history test is still tomorrow. Amen.
Much Love. Eric.
It's raining tonight. It seems like it rains every night these days. I don't know. I bought a rain jacket last week. I've never had a rain jacket before. I have a history test tomorrow. It's 10:30. But reader, whoever you are, you're worth it to keep writing.
There's a difference between being a leader in the Church and being any sort of other leader. I have come to realize this recently perhaps more than anything else. Being a leader for the sole purpose of wanting kids to come to know their savior changes everything. You are no longer leading someone to yourself. You aren't even leading a person to an idea. You are leading him/her to another person. I would go so far as to say that if you end up leading this person to yourself rather than Christ, you have completely failed. If you miss Christ you miss everything.
I started discipling a group of 7th grade guys a couple of weeks ago. It's hard as crap. It's bonkers. My prayer is that i do not lead these fellas to myself. Like i mentioned earlier, a leader can't lead people to a place he/she is not. I can't lead these guys to Jesus unless i am there myself. This has changed the way i lead.
It's still raining. I lit a candle. I like candles. This one smells like the beach. I like the beach. Did i mention i have a history test tomorrow? oh and a calc quiz. It's gonna be a late night. Confession: i haven't decided whether or not to use proper grammar when i blog. So sumtimes i mite talk liiike dis.
I mentioned that being a leader in the church is different. I said it's different because you are not leading people to yourself, but rather to someone else. How is this different than anything else? I'm glad you asked. I will tell you. Think of great leaders in history. Martin Luther King? He led people in large part to himself and his ideas. Obama? He wouldn't be the powerful man he is today if he wasn't constantly leading people to himself. Oprah? She has a tv network now. She named it after herself. Enough said. Now let me throw some other names at you. Francis Chan. Matt Chandler. Don Miller. Clayton King. John Piper. Maybe you know these guys. Maybe you don't. Each of these guys is a predominant figure in the Christian Church today. These guys have led hundreds, if not thousands, of people to Jesus. You might be thinking, "well then why haven't i heard of them?!". The Answer, these guys didn't lead people to themself. They have done amazing things in this world. Not to their own glory, but to God's. And that is what it takes to be a great Christian leader today.
Note: if you pick up a book in the Christian section of the bookstore and the cover has the author's face on it, chances are he/she is to some leading others to himself/herself rather than Jesus. Which means he/she is also to some degree leading others away from Christ. Just sayin.
A final thought. Perhaps what the Church needs this day in age is to focus on raising up real leaders in the church rather than fakes. Evangelism is pointless unless there are strong leaders in place to walk with new believers. Leaders who will not lead others to himself or herself, but rather to Christ. Jesus bet it all on his 12 disciples. He bet the entire future of the Church on 12 genuine leaders who did not have a personal agenda, but rather believed solely in the purpose of leading others to Christ. Jesus didn't have a plan B. Why then, does the Church today put so much emphasis on evangelism, and so little on discipleship? It doesn't make sense to me. When i met the Lord i was lucky enough to have 5 or 6 older guys, leaders, around me to walk with me. Without them i would have fallen away. I would not be following Christ today. In a lot of ways evangelism serves little purpose unless there is a genuine community of leaders to walk with new Christians. And hopefully these leaders will lead these people to a place where they already are. Otherwise, it won't work. People won't believe you. People won't believe in what you are trying to lead them to. And in a situation as eternally meaningful as leading kids to Jesus, already being in the place you are trying to lead to is essential.
This post is really long. If you have kept reading up until this point, thank you. It means a lot. I have been typing this for 67 minutes, and you know what? It's still raining, my candle is still burning, and my history test is still tomorrow. Amen.
Much Love. Eric.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Beginnings
The starting point of anything is scary. New relationships. The first day of preschool. Beginning to think about college. Needless to say, this blog is a little bit frightening. But my hope is to hit the ground running and not take another look back.
I love the idea of story, and I feel that i have compiled some pretty eventful ones over the expanse of my 17 year existence. The kicker about stories is that they are meant to be shared. Stories are meant to be laughed about, wept over, rejoiced at, and sung to. If our lives are like stories, then they are meant to be laughed about, wept over, rejoiced at, and sung to as well. Stories have conflict. Our lives are filled with it. In stories characters undergo a change, a maturation. For us, this begins on day one. Stories have heroes, villains, sidekicks, romance, death, and laughter. Take a look around you. Think about your day. Our lives are the same. Stories have a beginning and an end. Likewise, as surely as our lives have a beginning they have an end as well. Stories are created to be told. I want to live a life worth telling.
I was driving home a couple nights ago and realized that if my life is one great big story, than this blog should help to tell it. I hope you enjoy.
More to come. Much love.
Eric
I love the idea of story, and I feel that i have compiled some pretty eventful ones over the expanse of my 17 year existence. The kicker about stories is that they are meant to be shared. Stories are meant to be laughed about, wept over, rejoiced at, and sung to. If our lives are like stories, then they are meant to be laughed about, wept over, rejoiced at, and sung to as well. Stories have conflict. Our lives are filled with it. In stories characters undergo a change, a maturation. For us, this begins on day one. Stories have heroes, villains, sidekicks, romance, death, and laughter. Take a look around you. Think about your day. Our lives are the same. Stories have a beginning and an end. Likewise, as surely as our lives have a beginning they have an end as well. Stories are created to be told. I want to live a life worth telling.
I was driving home a couple nights ago and realized that if my life is one great big story, than this blog should help to tell it. I hope you enjoy.
More to come. Much love.
Eric
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