Urban Reformation

This is a horrible cut up picture but perhaps soon you will get the point, it’s of Jesus typing away on his laptop as an Angel gives Him advice for His message…. Jesus is sending an e-mail to earth instead of Himself and making a picture of His birth for Christmas and the cross on His laptop instead of actually having to be there Himself.No real contact needed he can blog it, or perhaps put his message on myspace, OR if they’re chosen to be friends of his on facebook they’ll get in, it’s all good. Perhaps modern hyper-reformed internet-ism?

As I sit here typing at 11:57 pm and I’m reflecting over our sermon from Faith today, I am reminded of how distant our culture has become from one another. If we want not to be bothered or only want certain things coming in we do not answer the phone because we can see who’s calling and can avoid them. If we are too tired from the days work we can hide behind the remote control, pick up some news before bed, read a little bit and then go to work again the next day, not having to deal with anything of depth. Our entire society has withdrawn from social contact into self, people sit in front of the tube or in my case the computer, they don’t come over to eat with one another or share time & life together as they grow up in the Lord.

There are so many going through the drive through that they have to build a couple McDonald’s just a few blocks apart from one another to handle all of the fast food customers. We send e-mails now instead of Christmas Cards, and text messages instead of calling someone. We order Christmas presents online, and have them gift wrapped so we don’t have to add anything personal.We have removed ourselves from contact, in our desire to be more connected. We haven’t become more connected we’ve only specialized the contact. The paradox of world globalization with less personal contact. How can we make it easy on ourselves, the easiest road possible? We no longer have to deal with the “difficult” people, the hard people, or we can tivo them and do it on our own time.Discipleship is reduced to going through a 10 step book instead of living out life with one another, for practical reasons. Sports or entertainment fill our minds and hearts instead of the souls of lost men, or the Father. Accountability isn’t a by-product of a discipleship relationship any longer, it’s a separate relationship partner. We use this because of time constraints, to get to the point of our sin and move on with our lives, because we don’t have the time for the rest of the relationship. We have coined “Accountability Partners” in pragmatism because we don’t have time for a full on discipleship relationships of value and length of time. We love the God of “Privacy” so much that we move into a secluded cul-de-sac or perhaps a place with plenty of space, so we’re not forced to either spend too much time with our neighbors outside, or too much time with our family inside.

We are controlled by our schedules, they become our God’s to us as we bow down and worship them on a daily basis for practical reasons. We march in step with society and the rhythm of it’s noise and chatter sounds so familiar to us, because we have grown up with it, we have integrated it into our lifestyles, and called it Church. We hear faint callings of a different life, a different way, one that calls us to be changed, walk differently, react more set apart for Christ, and after our morning devotionals we see those things more clearly only to be snatched away by the noise of the world, and the chatter of the news spouting off who’s going to be the next President of 2008. We rush off to work and catch a quick sermon talk to a few people for 20 minutes after a sermon and we have fellowshipped. We attend a home group for two hours share short prayer request every other week if we can make it, but there is little full heart commitment to be transparent with one another. I mean why, if they want to know me they can read my profile online.We blog, send e-mails out, yet we live too far away to be truly connected to one another in a relationship. We keep separated from one another hiding out from our neighbors thinking maybe they’ll see the Jesus sticker on the back of my car and ask me about Jesus, well if they know what the fish means…. maybe I’ll get one about prayer and they’ll ask for prayer.We foster these thoughts and attitudes, mixing in the values of the world with the values of the Word and finding it difficult to tell them apart at times, especially when it comes to finances.I myself am guilty of so many these things in someway or another, yet our culture is in love with itself. Don’t get me wrong however there are 1000 practical ligament reasons for all of these things to happen in some form or another unavoidably but I ask myself these questions.

• What if Jesus watched the news and watched some guys go back and forth on a field to see who got the highest points and checked his God phone every couple of minutes for the latest scores?
• What if Jesus made a promise and didn’t keep it?
• What if Jesus watched some of the things we watch?
• What if Jesus played video games, or blogged all day or did web design instead feeding the sheep?
• What if Jesus said at the last supper said, “lets see if someone else can make meal on the road, we can ride through on the donkey and pick it up it’ll save us some time?”
• What if Jesus didn’t pray to His Father, but talked about praying?
• What if Jesus didn’t come in Himself, but sent a picture or sent an e-mail?
• What if Jesus came to His disciples and said lets go over your discipleship book for one hour and then I’ll see you next week or in two weeks?
• What if Jesus was on fire about someone else’s good news and not the good news of Christ?
• What if Jesus came in and didn’t live among us but went back to Heaven every night when it was bed time?
• What if Jesus ignored His father? and forgot to be obedient even unto death?
• What if Jesus did not care for sinful humanity……….. or for His own Glory?

Again I’m saying nothing here that I am not preaching to myself, the purpose of this post is for me and anyone who reads it, to reflect on Christ, how He set the example of life.How we live so differently than we ought and yet so often do not acknowledge it, I know I fail and am so blind at times. I thank Him for His Grace.He did this thing practically, and as we want to swing away from pragmatism, and I do want to get away from doing things simply “because they work,” however in some senses we must see it through practical eyes, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and not simply talk about Him but live it out.As far as proximity is concerned so many of these things occur more naturally in “Community” with one another. Even in His name in which we normally only hear around the Christmas season, Emanuel God with us demonstrates His being with us.

This is an excellent blog post by 9 marks called, ”

“Significant Benefits of Living Near Your Local Church”

http://blog.9marks.org/2007/11/significant-ben.html

Most of the time though our hearts are in so many other places, no wonder, God uses suffering to get our attention, puts everything into perspective.So in conclusion here I thank God for four things this Christmas Eve morning.

• I thank Him that He sent His son in person, in the flesh, not in an e-mail, or on the internet as a nice note. God came himself to be near us, to live with us, and note, Jesus himself did not pen any book, yet He is the example not Paul.
• I thank the Father simply for the incarnation of His son that God humbled Himself to cover and pay a debt that I owed..
• I thank God for those who live near me who have poured their life into mine for God’s Glory and not their own.
• I thank God for allowing me to be near people who need a savior, and that I might be a pen or a mouth piece in the hand of God, a privilege I sorely overlook.

Thank you Father and to everyone else Merry Christmas!!!

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