ANGRY SAINTS

When I was working out on a regular basis, I would sit in the free weight area at the Y and listen to the guys who were "get a hernia" serious about lifting. To look at the these guys, you would think they could lift a car. They were huge, powerlifters...not bodybuilders. They were big all over with no sculptured physiques, just big and bulky. They were going for strength & size, not aesthetics.

They would get angry that they were at a plateau with their strength gains. They could be heard saying things like, "I should be better than this" or "I don't know what's wrong with me" or something of that nature. This mind set brings me to the spiritual application.
There are brothers & sisters in the body of Christ who are walking angry. They are angry because they do not measure up to some standard they have in their heads. Unfortunately, the anger they feel towards themselves is more often than not, redirected to others. The frustration that they cannot perform, that they "should be better than this", manifests itself as judging others. They seem to have the unrealized attitude that "If I can't measure up, by George, somebody will, even if it kills me!".

I have been in this place. I have done this with others, I have done this with family members, and for that I am sorry. Don't misunderstand, Jesus does NOT want us to stay where He found us. He does not want us to remain stagnant. We cannot, for it is impossible. The Christian life is not a steady state, no, it is kinetic; ever moving, always changing. If we find ourselves to be the same as we were even a couple of weeks ago, we are not growing, we are dying.

Growth is natural, so if we are not growing, it is un-natural. If you plant a seed, it will grow if it receives nourishment. All that the seed can be is inherent within the seed itself. God can see inside of the seed, the seed being us. He sees the potential. He sees whether we are to be a mighty oak, like Paul or Martin Luther or D.L. Moody. He sees if we are to be a small rose bush that is both beautiful and fragrant, like my mother was or like Mother Teresa. One is no greater or less than the other, because they both have their place in God's economy. We would do well to ask the Lord to give us His worldview, so we will see that all are important and that everyone has a place in the whole, vast configuration of things.

So, consider yourself as God sees you; as the potential oak or rose bush that God has planned for you to be. We are not, at present, what we will be, but we are not as were either...by His Grace.

Think about it.

Book Review: The Vertical Self by Mark Sayers

When I received this book, I was pretty excited simply by the fact that Leonard Sweet wrote the forward. When I actually engaged the book itself, I was more than pleased and challenged. 
The angle Mark Sayers took on this subject was very interesting, and that angle is this: For far too long people in general, and Christians specifically, have taken their cues of who they are from a horizontal reference, i.e., their peers and culture around them. He used the oft used terms, "cool, sexy and glamorous" as cultural idioms that we use to describe everything from an actor or actress to a car to a political perspective. 

Sayers feels, and I think rightly so, that we find the REAL us when we find God's view of us and what He wants for us. This book truly challenged me from the angle that, I too, have been guilty of wanting to appear to be the "cool Christian" as opposed to the stereotypical "nerdy Christian" that seems to always be played out in front of us, whether it is the TV preacher with the bad suit and hairstyle or the dorky neighbor praying and answering everything with "Hi-diddly-doh"! Sayers even addresses how churches can fall for this image projecting malady that has befallen the world, which on one hand is refreshing to see, because then we can recognize the feet of clay that traditional Christianity can have, but it is also sad to realize how weak the church has been to allow this to happen. 

I would really recommend this book to anyone, but especially to followers of Jesus and leaders within the Jesus Movement. Read it, take it to heart and realize that to follow Jesus is above and beyond cool, sexy and glamorous. 

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