fight the system!

awhile ago i wrote about a reactionary revolutionary. everyone reacts in the face of something they dislike or see as morally wrong or unhealthy. so i'm gonna react.

this whole american method of finding success and significance has got to stop.

now, many of you just read that statement and uttered an inaudible grunt of agreement. but don't be too eager to snub your nose at our culture thinking this is just an evil found in those seeking worldly treasures and fame. most of us would be quick to quote off, "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." as though christians aren't effected by a worldly struggle for fame, riches, self-worth and significance. but i say that christians are definitely caught up in our culture's method for finding these things.

i've seen it.

and you know where i found it? i didn't have to pull out a file in a research library. i didn't have to read any books. i didn't listen to any radio preachers. i didn't even have to look past the end of my nose.

it's engrained in me. like a cancer.

i start with myself first, because i know it's true in me. i'm not really one who values riches necessarily (i went to school to study the Bible...if i had wanted to get rich that was a really stupid move). and i'd like to think that i find my significance in Christ. but recently i've observed a pattern of getting caught in this web of "success".

here it is: why do i find myself striving in this unofficial and unspoken competition with everyone around me to see who can handle the biggest schedule and still stay on top and make it look good?

read that again for me.

is that you too? maybe this is a better way of saying it: why are we so busy?

what is it about our culture that can't give it a rest? why do we fill up our schedules to the maximum capacity and brag or complain about them? or why do our schedules run and dictate our lives? why is it wrong to say "no"? why do we have something going on everyday/everynight? have we swung too far across the pendulum to avoid laziness? are we searching for something? do we find our significance in business? do we find our significance in what we can accomplish in a day? why are high-school sports year-round? why are church doors closed on sunday nights and wednesday nights now? why is it so hard to find a night for 4 couples to get together in a week of 7 days to study the Bible and find encouragement? why are we so concerned about what people will think about how we spend our time? why do we honor those who are the most visible in the community or church if they are neglecting their families? why are we surprised by the demise of the family when we expect so much out of their schedules?

i don't get this. and i hate it. but it's our sin-cursed culture. and it's rooted in our prideful hearts.

i wanna fight this system. and i guess this is just a start or a part of the conversation. all i know, is that it will take a reactionary revolution. God save us.

freedom!

"for freedom Christ freed us."

i came across this verse (galatians 5:1) this morning, and i couldn't get past it. the apostle paul is pleading with the galatians to remember what Christ has done for them and not turn back to their old patterns of striving to obtain righteousness by keeping the law. it was as if the church in galatia heard the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, accepted it, and then turned back to their "religious stuff" to make them more righteous and save them. and paul is basically pointing his finger at their illogical line of thinking and asking, "how can you turn to Christ's grace for salvation and then add to it and nullify it's sufficiency?" it's a slap in the face of God to receive His gift and then say it's not enough!

so i'm thinking about this.

what has Christ freed me from?

trying to do it on my own! i can't make it. in a sense, it's a pride issue to turn to anything else but Christ to make me "spiritual" or "righteous". because what i'm really saying is, i don't want your gift, i'd rather earn it so i'm not indebted to you.

i think rather, Christ wants us to recognize our utter failure and inability to ever earn righteousness. to reach rock bottom. to know that our only hope is in the merciful and gracious gift of Christ to save us. a brokeness that looks to the goodness of God to lead us to repentance. and isn't that the point of the gospel? isn't that where Christ meets us with His loving, open arms?

maybe that's where God met us. but is it still where God meets us?

is it possible that we share our testimony of how God saved us, but on a day to day basis we are really concerning ourselves with striving to earn His grace? trying to maintain a certian status. because we're not comfortable with spending the rest of eternity in a humble state of dependancy on a holy and merciful Creator. think about it. Christ set us free! He gave us His righteousness to free us from the obligation of trying to earn it! we're free!

free to live a life of wreckless abandon to our wonderful, merciful Savior! free to pour ourselves out as a offering of thanksgiving! free to share the freedom that He brings! free to live in a perpetual state of worship in humility!

so i'm thinking about it.

everyday i must meet God in the same place. not that i'm not growing, but that i'm still and will forever be totally in need of His amazing grace. "and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 corinthians 3:17).

encounter.

i want to encounter God.

in His Word.

on my knees.

in prayer.

in song.

in my heart.

in my head.

in truth.

incessantly.

and never be the same.

reactionary revolutionary

when i don't like something i react.

everyone does. i think it has something to do with newton's third law. "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." although this is stated as a law governing the physical universe, i think it's safe to say it's also evident in the pages of history. i suppose it's possible for someone to scientifically prove or disprove this as a theory, but i have no idea how you would measure it accurately. too many variables. but suffice it to say, although i don't claim expertise in world or even any specific cultural history, it's easy to see how one generation, with all their philosophical worldviews and practices, is a reactionary reflection of the struggles of the last generation. (at least you can be comforted with solomon's reminder: there is nothing new under the sun)

in fact, they plan to react. we've heard it in the simple yet loaded promise, "i'm not going to be like my parents" or "i won't make the same mistakes they made."

perhaps it is most clearly evident in our present post-modern, emergent culture that is daring to ask revolutionary questions. a culture that is deep-rooted in revolution. that began with revolution. that has evolved through revolution. that honors the revolutionary. that portrays him as a heroic savior of our most cherished values in the face of those who would distort or suppress them. and so it is with great honor that we align , or at the very least, mentally acknowledge our support of a revolution.

why?

it seems to me that everyone is a hero in their own mind. they may not lead the charge, but they lend their vote, financial support, time and encouragement to those whom they believe are fighting the cause and defending their values. everyone is reacting to something. there is always a struggle (and i suspect there always will be until the King of Kings has had enough and takes His rightful throne).

so we look to the future where our reaction to present struggles will finally burst forth in revolutionary success and see our dreams fulfilled. i guess you could call it hope.

or maybe it's just the greener grass we see on the other side of the fence.

but maybe that's the struggle wired into our system by a Divine Creator eager to show us how wonderful His master plan really is. but until we see the tapestry from the other side, it will always seem to us an utter disaster.

somehow, through the ebb and flow of time, through the rise and fall of empires, through the reactions of revolutionaries, through the contradictions of thoughts and philosophies...God is there. and He is orchestrating a delicate and beautiful balance that will one day be unveiled as the greatest masterpiece ever created (from nothing).

it's His story. and we are all a part. just a part...nothing new under the sun...just a part of His narrative.

so don't stop reacting. don't stop thinking. don't stop dreaming. it will all come together. on that glorious day...