Category Archives: Becoming Missional

Following Jesus with a missional posture.

Grand Jury Decision in #Ferguson

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This isn’t the first time that I’ve blogged about Ferguson.  Here’s my first post about Ferguson.  And while I still stand by what I wrote there (specifically that not all people have the same experiences with police, the Church can’t be silent about issues like Ferguson, and Jesus always sided with people who were hurting and marginalized), things have changed a bit since Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted by the grand jury.

And here’s my second post about Ferguson.  And while I also stand by what I wrote there (namely that Christians in situations like the one brought on by the events in Ferguson should take time to listen, feel, stand in solidarity, and walk in community), things have changed a bit since Office Darren Wilson was not indicted by the grand jury.

The grand jury not indicting Michael Brown’s killer changed things.

The Decision by the Grand Jury Changed Things…

Or did it?

Sure, there are now protests all across the country and the response to the decision of the grand jury in Ferguson has been marked here and there by looting and violence.

But here’s the truth, the issues that Ferguson brought to the forefront for so many people of color still exist.  The decision by this grand jury has done nothing to change this.

Here are few of those issues:

  • Median household wealth — Whites 91.4k; Blacks 6.4k
  • Home ownership — Whites 72.9%, Blacks 43.5%
  • Median household income — Whites 59.8k; Blacks 35.4k
  • Unemployment rates — Whites 5.3%; Blacks 11.4%
  • Poverty rates — Whites 9.7%; Blacks 27.2%

Here are a few more issues the decision of the grand jury didn’t change:

  • “Blacks are more likely than others to be arrested in almost every city for almost every type of crime.”
  • There are pockets in the US where it’s worse than elsewhere, such as in Clayton, MO (which is near Ferguson), where black people make up 8% of the population while 57% of the people arrested in Clayton are black.
  • “Only 173 of the 3,538 police departments” examined in a particular study have arrest rates of blacks equal to or lesser than those of other groups.

And here are some more unchanged facts that the grand jury’s decision didn’t change:

  • People of color make up about 30% of the population but about 60% of the prison population.
  • 14% of black people use drugs regularly but 37% of those arrested on drug charges are black.
  • White students are over-represented in America’s colleges.
  • 4 million people of color experience housing discrimination every year.

How to Respond in Light of the Decision by the Grand Jury

So, since things haven’t really changed all that much, how are we to respond?

  1. When talking to someone who is angry about Ferguson, focus less on the facts and more on the anger and pain your conversation partner is feeling.  Having a debate with them about forensics reports, eyewitness accounts, and the like won’t get you anywhere.  Instead, talk to them about why they are feeling the way they are.
  2. Get into a posture of listening.  There’s nothing worse than a chatty Cathy whenever someone is hurting and grieving.  And, friends, many people of color are deeply pained by what’s going on in Ferguson.  It’s time that we started talking a bit less, and listening a lot more!
  3. Spend less time judging people who are doing things you may not agree with (like looting and committing acts of violence), and spend more time trying to understand what led them to a place where behaving in such a way seemed like a viable option.  Mother Teresa reportedly said that if we judge people we don’t have time to love them.  And if ever there was a time for love, it’s now!
  4. Educate yourself about issues of race and ethnicity in the US (and elsewhere!).  If you don’t know where to start, use Google.  Type in the following: “Evidence for white privilege.”  I’m sure you’ll learn a thing or two; I know I have!  Also, read some books.  Here are two suggestions that are on my to-read list: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Era of Color Blindness by Michelle Alexander and Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson.
  5. Lastly, and in my opinion most importantly, diversify your friend set.  This may be difficult, but the effort will be worth it!  The single most important moment in the development of my understanding of race and ethnicity grew out of a conversation that I had with a deeply trusted friend of color.  My hope is that the same thing can happen for you!

So did the decision by the grand jury change things?  Yeah, a few.  There are more protests.  The Brown family is left with no semblance of justice.  Officer Darren Wilson will not face criminal charges.  And social media has blown up with millions of posts.

But other than those things, the system continues unabated.  The racial and ethnic divides continue to grow.  Racism of various sorts and degrees still exists.  And things are still heavily skewed in the favor of some and against others.

 

What are your thoughts?  Let me know below!  (And please keep things civil; I will watch the comments closely!)

Death Row Lessons

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Death Row Lessons

What do you think of this video?

In it David Dow reveals a few lessons he has learned after working for 20 years with death row inmates.  He walks through various statistics and facts to help make his points.  And, along the way, he includes stories of people he has worked with, specifically a young man named Will who came from a low-income family in which he was almost killed by his own mother.

David Dow attempts to avoid controversy by spending his time toward the end of the video talking about something everyone can agree on: preventing the murder of an innocent person.

Let’s not get into a debate about the death penalty.  Instead let’s focus on what the speaker focused on — intervening before the murder is committed in the first place.

In fact, the story of Will that David Dow tells is not that dissimilar to the stories of the young men (and women) in my neighborhood.  Most of them are low income and therefore have limited access to things that other folks take for granted (such as a quality education, healthy food, quiet and safe places to do homework, etc.).  And many of the folks in my neighborhood are also from broken, violent, and dysfunctional families, some of which have long family histories of gang involvement.

What are some ways that we can intervene in the lives of young people, like Will and like those in my neighborhood, to help nudge them off the paths that might lead toward horrific crimes and ultimately death row?

And how should those who follow Jesus be involved in this process?  How can we, with the help of the Spirit of God and our various church communities, help prevent people from ending up on death row?  Do we really believe that Jesus has the ability to transform people and systems?  If so, why do we act like we don’t?

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Getting the Flock out of the Pen

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Here’s the best thing I’ve read all week:

If the church consists of all those who have believed in Jesus, then church leaders must be less concerned with attracting a bigger flock and more concerned with getting the flock out of the pen.

This awesome nugget comes from Neil Cole and Phil Helfer in their timely and amazing book entitled Church Transfusion: Changing Your Church Organically–From the Inside Out.

Perception Is Reality

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Perception is everything.

perception

Sometimes it is said that a messenger is the message. I want to spend some time in this post unpacking what this idea means.

I want to do so by telling a story:

Perception on the Block

My wife and I were on a walk in our neighborhood recently. The intention behind this walk was to get to know some of our neighbors in an effort to share the love of Jesus with them in some capacity. So we prayed before we went on our walk and we asked God to bring people across our path that we could positively impact.

There was a group of young men that were hanging out across the street. So we went up to them and introduced ourselves. While we were doing this I noticed that there were two young men behind them who appeared to be in the middle of some kind of business transaction, which meant I wanted nothing to do with that conversation.

As we were about to continue our walk, one of the young men who was doing business said, “There go the police.”

This interaction reminded my wife and I of how we are perceived in our neighborhood. And that perception is generally that we are affiliated with the police or at least that we don’t really belong in the neighborhood. My perception of this perception of us is that it’s because we are white and we live in a predominantly African-American and Latino community.

Whatever the case, this perception is reality to those who perceive us. And this is a perception that we must overcome over time.

So as we think about how to be a tangible blessing in our neighborhood, how do we deal with this perception and others like it?

Here’s what I did in the story above: I simply turned around and approached the two young men who said that we were the police. I told them that we weren’t the police and that we lived across the street.

I’m not sure what they thought of this interaction but I felt it necessary to confront this issue head-on. The main reason why is because I understand that this perception of us being the police could really get in the way of us interacting with the people on our block in meaningful ways moving forward.

But some of the perceptions of followers of Jesus are not as obvious as the ones in our neighborhood.

Sometimes perceptions of followers of Jesus are more subtle or or more general, such as that Christians are judgmental, too political, sticks in the mud, etc. (as revealed in the book unChristian by David Kinnnaman).  And the reality is that it’s only through time and trust that perceptions such as these can be countered in healthy ways.

And while sometimes we may feel that the perception of us by those who do not yet follow Jesus is unfair, the responsibility is not on the perceiver but on the one being perceived. In other words, it’s our job as the messengers to be sure that the message is coming across clearly despite potential perception issues.

So here’s the question: how do we combat perceptions that might prevent us from being the tangible blessings that we are to be where we work, live, and play? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Halloween Massacre in Pasadena

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On Halloween of 1993, Pasadena, CA had to face the reality of street gangs head on.  There was no more room to pretend like the organized crime of America’s gang capital, Los Angeles, wasn’t here too.

That night, three gang-affiliated men gunned down six teenagers who were trick-or-treating.  None of the victims were gang-affiliated; they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time that Halloween.  Three of the young men died that night.

Halloween

This tragic crime happened near the intersection of Emerson and Wilson in the Bungalow Heaven section of Pasadena, CA.

More than two years later, the three gunmen were found guilty of first degree murder, among other charges.  And nearly three and a half years after the Halloween Massacre occurred the perpetrators were sentenced to death.  And though 21 years have passed, the three men who were convicted of this horror on Halloween have yet to receive their ultimate punishment.

The tragedy of this situation isn’t just found in the deaths of innocent young men or the ever-present delays of the justice system; it can also be seen in the fact that a community had ignored the warning signs that this type of gang-related violence was possible.  All the necessary components were present.  And yet no one seemed to notice and, thus, nothing was done.

 

Halloween Massacre Lessons

There’s no need to look unnecessarily back into the past to pick at proverbial scabs.  But when there’s an opportunity for learning to happen and growth to occur, it would be a grand mistake not to look back so that we can move forward.

So, it’s with this philosophy of learning from the past that I offer a few humble suggestions of possible lessons to be learned from the Halloween Massacre of 1993 in Pasadena.

  1. We must get our heads out of the sand.  Gangs and the things that help create them (such as poverty, broken families, joblessness, poor schools, etc.) are nation-wide problems, if not global problems.  In cities such as Los Angeles this is not surprising.  But in Pasadena, a city known for a parade of flowers, a football game, and a song about a little ol’ lady, they are surprising.  And they’re surprising in my hometown of Midland, TX too.  And perhaps they’re even more surprising in suburban and rural areas.  Here’s the truth: Gangs and the factors that lead to them are present almost everywhere.  It’s time we, as community members, as the church, and as families, did something about this.
  2. We must get past historic and systemic racism and classism.  One of the easiest ways to ignore gang violence is to blame it on the “stupidity” of poor people or ethnic minorities.  It’s easy for someone in a comfortable home among their still-together family to bemoan how “those people” don’t make any sense and how “they” make poor choices.  The truth is that the “they” are “us” and “we” are “them.”  There’s no divide.  Everyone is looking for a place to belong.  Everyone is looking for ways to make money.  And anyone can get wrapped up in the gang life.  A perfect example of this is murder or a gang-affiliated young man in my neighborhood last week.  He grew up in an intact family, in good schools, and with a bright future.  Gang affiliation isn’t just an issue among poor people and people of color.  This is a human issue.  This is our issue.
  3. We must cross barriers and enter into the communities most affected by gangs.  Friends, if every human life matters, then we must set our fears aside and enter into real, human relationships with people in every sort of neighborhood, including (and especially!) those most impacted by gangs.  Children need mentors.  Young people need to see and experience hope.  Gang members need to be reminded that they are seen and cared for by people other than their homies in their click.  We have to get over our fears and issues and cross whatever barriers may exist for us.  Will it be easy?  Of course not.  If you look like me you’ll face an uphill battle, trust me.  I’ve been mistaken for a police officer.  One of my friends, who just so happens to be have male-pattern baldness, gets confused for a skinhead all the time.  And you may have to fight against the accusation that you have the “save a brother syndrome.”  Relationships that cross cultural divides take time.  But they’re worth it.  For a ton of reasons.  You’ll grow and be stretched and learn how to love like never before.
  4. We must trust in the power of Jesus to transform lives, neighborhoods, cities, states, countries, and ultimately the whole world.  We can’t do this.  We can’t do this as individuals or as groups of people.  We need divine help.  We need to power of Jesus.  We all do, not just the gang members or potential gang members.  And when we trust Jesus to do the transformation, it can help us to steer clear of the idea that we can change the world.  We can’t.  Only Jesus can bring true transformation.  And Jesus wants to use people who know and daily experience that transformation in their own lives to be agents of that same transformation in the world.  God wants to use us.  He wants to express his love and compassion for everyone and he has chosen to do that through us!

 

So, what will you do?  How will you help lead others to address issues like the ones that led to the Halloween Massacre in Pasadena?  And How will you and your community give the responsibility of transformation over to Jesus?  Let me know in the comments below!

The Baby’s Heartbeat

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My wife and I are adopting.

Even though I have said and written those words many times, they still hit me in a surreal manner.  I instinctively think something like this: We’re not really adopting; this must just be a dream or something.

But it’s real!  In fact, yesterday it just got very, very real.

We heard our baby’s heartbeat for the first time.

 

Heartbeat

A sample fetal heart rate monitor

The Baby’s Heartbeat

Wendy, my cousin and our birthmother, had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and we went with her.  The doctor and her assistant helped Wendy get into position and placed the listening end of a fetal heart rate monitor on her stomach.

And then we heard a series of sounds that brought this whole adoption thing out of the realm of “no way” right into the realm of “yup, it’s real.”

After listening for a little while the doctor told the assistant that the heart rate was 145 beats per minute.  But I wonder what the heart rates of my wife and I were?  I know that my heart was racing at a pace that felt like a million beats per minute!

That tiny baby’s heartbeat, which is in the normal range by the way (I Googled it!), represents a lifetime of stories, heartbreaks, love, and excitement.

That tiny heartbeat will change our lives forever.

 

Jesus’ Heartbeat

This whole experience kind of reminds me of when I first heard the heartbeat of Jesus.

Sadly, I lived for more than 20 years as a follower of Jesus before I really heard this heartbeat myself.

Don’t get me wrong.  Sometimes I would hear a faint sound that might have been Jesus’ heartbeat.  I certainly heard other people talk about experiencing his heartbeat firsthand.

But I hadn’t, at least not consistently.

But a few years ago I pulled my head out of my academic books (where it had been buried for 7 years at the time) and came up for air.  I realized that while I was on my self-imposed academic exile, an entire movement within the Church had taken on full form.

That movement is called the missional movement.  (Here’s a post where I talk about this process in more detail.)

That word, missional, has definitely hit buzzword status and, as such, it needs a bit of explaining.  So, here goes: “missional” means to be on mission with Jesus.  As Hugh Halter puts it in his book entitled Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation down to Earth — being missional means being disciples that live the human life of Jesus in our human lives.

So, if we see Jesus doing something, then we should be doing it too.  If we see him telling his disciples to do these sorts of things and not those sorts of things, then we should obey.  If we see Jesus caring for people, whoever they may be, then we should follow suit.

Here’s a way I like to think about it — being missional means letting Jesus’ heartbeat beat in our hearts.

And what is Jesus’ heartbeat?

I think we see it primarily in two places.  And each of these two places is of utmost importance and both should be pursued by followers of Jesus with all of our gumption.

The first is found in Luke 4.16-21:

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Here we see Jesus’ heartbeat in this way: his heart beats for the downtrodden, for the oppressed, and for the forgotten.  When our hearts start to mimic Jesus’ heartbeat, then we’ll start caring for the poor, those who are imprisoned, those who are differently abled, and those who are oppressed.

The second is found in Matthew 28.18-20:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Here we find the other side of Jesus’ heartbeat — his desire that his followers would help others follow him too.  And who are his followers supposed to help become disciples?  Everyone, all the nations.

And what are they to do with them when they start following Jesus?  They are to baptize them (making them part of the church family) and they are to teach them to obey Jesus (mentoring them to live the human life of Jesus in their lives).

Traditionally different sorts of Christians have focused on one aspect of Jesus’ heartbeat or the other.  Friends, this is simply a cop out.  We must focus on both.  All of us.  Each one of us.  Together.

We must be all about justice and we much be all about making disciples.

And hearing the heartbeat of Jesus can change our lives, even more so than hearing the heartbeat a baby.

When you think of the heartbeat of Jesus, what do you think of and why?  Let me know in the comments below!

If you would like to know how you can support my wife any I in this crazy process of adoption, click on the following link or copy and paste it into your browser: https://www.continuetogive.com/mattandalida.

To read some more of our adoption story, CLICK HERE.

Thanks!

Grocery Store Healing

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I’m starting to learn that following Jesus is a full-time calling.

And I’m not talking about this government-regulated 40-hour work week stuff.  No.  I’m talking about every waking moment.

Now I’m not saying that we have to be “on” and doing “ministry” at every moment.  But what I am saying is that we need to be open to whatever God wants to do in us or through us at any moment in any place.

Even at the grocery store.

 

Grocery Store

Are you ready to follow Jesus…even at the grocery store?
By: r. nial bradshaw

 

At the Grocery Store

So here’s the story that inspired this post:

The other day I needed to run to the grocery store.  So I left the comforts of home and made my way to the market.

The grocery store that I went to is one of my regular haunts.  I know most of the cashiers’ faces and a few of their names.  This time, however, when I went to check out, I ended up in a line with someone I had never seen before.

I never caught her name because her name tag was flipped over, but she was pleasant enough.  She made a few little jokes and I politely laughed.  As I have mentioned before, I am an introvert and small talk is pretty much the bane of my existence.  But I felt like I needed to clue in, so I started paying attention.

The cashier was making a small grimace with her face each time she reached for my items with her right hand.  She noticed that I noticed and started talking about the pain in her wrist.  She told me all about it — when it started, what her doctor said about it, how long it takes to get in at the local clinic, and how she has to miss work sometimes because of the pain.

In fact, she talked so much that she was still talking even though I had paid for my items and reloaded my basket.  She kept talking.

Now I need to be honest.  My first reaction was to be frustrated.  My wife was waiting for me at home and it had been a long day.  All my selfish side wanted to do was to shut her down and get out of there.

But due to the fact that my wife and I (and some of our closest friends) have been attempting to make ourselves more available to God, I felt a small voice in the back of my mind telling me to listen up.  So I did.  I put all my introvert tendencies aside and continued to listen.

The cashier talked for another minute or two.  (Luckily there was no one else in line!)  Then I felt a very clear impression to ask her if she was a praying person.  So I did:

“Are you a praying person?”

“What?” she said.

“Do you pray?”

“Sometimes.  Well, not really all that much.”

“Would you mind if I prayed for you?” I replied.

“Uh, sure, I guess.”

I let go of my basket and moved in closer to her and asked if I could touch her wrist where she was feeling pain.  She extended her right hand and I took her forearm in my right hand.  It kind of looked like a Roman hand shake.

Grocery Store

Roman Handshake

I bowed my head and closed my eyes and said a really short prayer asking Jesus to heal her.  When I finished praying, I opened my eyes and we made solid eye contact for a few seconds.  She had gotten a little misty and I told her that I hoped Jesus would heal her.  Then we parted ways.

I went back last night to check on her at the grocery store and she wasn’t at work.  When/if I see her again, I’ll post a short update!

 

Available

So I’m only telling this story for one reason: we need to be more available.  I’ve lived much of my life viewing others as extras in the movie of my life.  This is unfair and selfish on my part.

God sends us to the places where we work, live, play…and shop!  Even the grocery store!

And the only reason this story sticks out in my memory is because it is the exception to the rule: I’m usually unavailable.

I’m distracted, or looking at my phone, or staring off into the distance, or talking to someone I came with.

But when I make myself available for God to use, he does!  And I guarantee that if you make yourself available, God will plug you into the work he’s already doing in the places where you work, live, and play.

Even at the grocery store.

 

(BONUS: This isn’t the first time that something interesting has happened to me at the grocery store.  Click here to read another post about an unexpected missional encounter at the grocery store!)

 

So, how has God used you in unexpected ways?  Has he used you at the grocery store?  Let me know in the comments below!

Called: Even Me?

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Am I called by God?

This is a question that many of us who follow Jesus ask ourselves over the course of our faith journeys. In my experience, what people usually mean by this question is something like this: Does God want me to serve him on a pastoral team or in some sort of a missionary context, such as campus ministries or traditional missionary service in an international setting.

This sort of calling is important, don’t get me wrong.  But it’s my belief and conviction that all of us who claim Jesus as Lord are called.  We are called to follow Jesus!

This leaves a few questions, which I want to explore.

 

Called Questions

  1. What kind of person can be called?  Anyone who is willing to submit to the Lordship of Jesus.  Anyone.  As we read the story of Jesus in the Gospels we see that Jesus calls all sorts of people to follow him, not just the religious sort of people.  Then, at the end of the story in Matthew 28, we read that Jesus wants his friends to make disciples of all people.  Not some people.  Not the right people.  All people.
  2. What does it mean to be called?  As I’ve written about before, being called to follow Jesus means doing what Jesus did — making disciples, loving people, caring for those in need, and bringing the good news to the poor.  In other words, the call to follow Jesus is active, not passive, as Francis Chan has reminded us so often!
  3. When am I called and when am I supposed to act on it?  If we take the Gospels seriously and if we are trying to actively imitate Jesus, then this answer is pretty straightforward.  In Matthew 4.19 Jesus makes some disciples and immediately tells them that he will make them disciplemakers.  So we are called at the very beginning and we should act on our calling as soon as we are trained up in the most basic aspects of following Jesus.  Check this out: in Luke 5 Jesus calls his first disciples.  Then in Luke 10 he sends out some of his followers on their first mission.  That’s just five chapters, and less for some of them!  What are we waiting for?
  4. Where does God call me to follow him?  Who knows!  Some of us are called to stay, like the man who had a whole bunch of demons exorcised from his body.  Jesus told him to go home to his own people in order to tell them how much the Lord had done for him (Mark 5.19).  On the other hand, he send out the 72 in Luke 10 to go before him.  So where are we called to go?  Where ever Jesus sends us, that’s where!
  5. Why in the world does God call me to join him in his will to reconcile all things to himself in Christ Jesus?  God wants to use us to transform the world because he created the world and everything in it (Acts 17.24) and he loves the world so much that he decided to become flesh to redeem it (John 3.16; 1.14).  And then, in a move that is left to the deep mysteries of the universe, God chose to use normal ol’ human beings to be agents of this redemption (2 Corinthians 5.19-20).  It appears that God deeply desires to choose us, to empower us, to partner with us.  That’s pretty cool!
  6. How does God call me?  He speaks and we listen.  God has a long history of speaking (in creation, to Moses, to his prophets, through Jesus, through the Scriptures, etc.) and he continues to speak today.  Some of us hear a voice from the Lord.  Others get clear impressions from him.  But most of us hear him calling us in the Scriptures as we seek to learn them and live them out within community.  However, God is the King of the Universe and he can use whatever means he wants to reach into our lives to communicate with us.  Here’s the question: Are we listening?

 

Brothers and sisters, if you follow Jesus, you are called.  You are called to actively follow him where ever he leads you.  You are called to do the things that were central to Jesus: making disciples (Matthew 28.19), loving God and others (Matthew 22.38-40), and pursuing justice for those who are easily forgotten (Luke 4.16-21).  Are you doing these things?

 

Are you called by God?  Tell me about it in the comments below!

Known by Jesus: John 1.43-51

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One of my favorite passages in all of the Bible is Philippians 3.10-11: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

Maybe I like this passage because I’ve spent much of my life trying to get to know Jesus.  I’ve read about him.  I’ve meditated on his words and on the words of others who have written about him.  I’ve sung about him.  I’ve talked about him.  And I’ve written about him a lot.

But even more meaningful is what we see in John 1.43-51 — people are known by Jesus.  We may want to know him, which is important.  But he already knows us.  We are known by Jesus.

Let’s unpack this…

 

Context

As I wrote about earlier, Jesus just called his first disciples.  He asked them to follow him and they did, thanks to the witness of John the Baptist and their families.

But what I didn’t write about was a miraculous moment between Jesus and Peter.  Here’s what it looked like:

Andrew meets Jesus and is enamored.  He goes to tell his brother Simon.  When Jesus meets Simon he identifies him without being told anything about him.  Jesus simply looked at him and said “You are Simon, son of John.”

Did you catch it?  Simon, who Jesus says will be called Peter, was known by Jesus before they ever met face to face.  That’s pretty cool, right?

It gets better, just wait.

 

Known by Jesus: Nathaniel

Jesus is so cool in this passage!

In verse 43, Jesus finds Philip and invites him to follow him.  Philip apparently said yes and wanted to let his brother, Nathaniel, know too.  So, Philip told Nathaniel that the long-awaited Messiah has come and that he’s from Nazareth.

Nathaniel’s first response was prejudiced and shallow: “Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?”  But instead of correcting him, Philip does something profound.  He simply says come and see for yourself.  I love this: when people are making judgments about Jesus that are annoying and naive, we can just invite them to meet the real Jesus.

So Philip and Nathaniel go to meet Jesus and as they are approaching Jesus he says to Nathaniel that he’s a good, upstanding guy.  Nathaniel is shocked and says “How do you know me?”

Jesus’ response in verse 48 is enigmatic: “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”  What’s so special about this?  There are at least two things:

  1. Jesus is saying that he knew Nathaniel before Philip had even told Nathaniel about him.
  2. There’s also something about the fig tree here.  In the Old Testament fig trees sometimes refer to home and in some rabbinic sources they are seen as places of mediation (DA Carson, The Gospel according to John, 161).  So, Jesus is saying that he knew Nathaniel when he was in the privacy of his own home, or he’s saying that he knew Nathaniel when he was in the midst of praying, or both.

Either way, what Jesus said really impacted Nathaniel.  His response in verse 49 goes like this: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”  He was saying that he was all in!  Then Jesus responds, “You ain’t seen anything yet!”

 

Conclusion

The most amazing thing about this story is that Nathaniel was known by Jesus.  And this fact blew Nathaniel away!  But how was Nathaniel known by Jesus?  In John’s Gospel, we don’t know yet for sure.  But in the opening verses of John we read that the Word, who is Jesus, has always been around, even at the very beginning.  Thus, Nathaniel was known by Jesus from the beginning.  There was never a time when he wasn’t known by Jesus.  That’s really pretty cool!

Psychologists tell us that one of our basic human needs is to be known.  And we all know what it feels like to be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t really care to know us.  It hurts and it feels exploitative.

But the truth is that each and every one of us is known by God and we have been known by him from the foundations of the universe.

But that can be scary.

Think about it: If God has always known me, then he has always known all my problems, my failures, my hatreds, my prejudices, my mistakes, etc.  How could he love me if he has always known me?  I mean, come on, I have a hard time loving myself!

But that’s the miracle of the good news of Jesus and his kingdom; God has always known us and he loves us anyway.  Romans 5.8 is helpful to memorize: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Let’s put that in plain English: We are all known by God, and yet he loves us anyway.  Despite our mistakes and sinfulness, Jesus came for us.  We are known by God and he still desires so passionately to be with us that he went to the greatest lengths possible!

Friends, we have two responses: 1) Accept and live into the love that God so graciously lavishes upon us, even though we don’t deserve it; and 2) Share that love with others, because to do otherwise would be incredibly, incredibly selfish.

 

What do you think?  What does it feel like to be known by Jesus?  Let me know in the comments below!

God’s Timing: 5 Traits

by

Have you ever been anxious about an upcoming event?  Have you been worried that you aren’t where you think you should be in life yet?  Have you fretted about why you haven’t started the supposed next life-stage yet?

On the other hand: Have you been totally surprised by the perfect timing of a phone call from a friend?  Have you been encouraged by how certain circumstances in life seem to line up just right and just in the nick of time?  Have you ever been so glad that that thing you wanted to come so quickly didn’t because it would have caused you to miss important opportunities?

If any of these things apply to you as a follower of Jesus, then you’ve experienced God’s timing!  And as you and I strive to be more and more on mission with Jesus, then we need to be more and more in sync with his clock!

 

What Is God’s Timing Like?

Timinig

By: Kainet

  1. God’s Timing Is Mysterious:  Here’s an example: When will Jesus return? Who knows but it will be like a thief in the night.  And God’s timing in many stories in the Bible illustrates that human beings have to live within the tension of God’s mysterious timing.  For instance, Jacob wanted to marry Rachel but was tricked into marrying Leah instead.  He had to wait for 14 years until God granted him the thing that he wanted!  That’s crazy!  We don’t and can’t always understand God’s timing.  We have to live and obey in the tension.
  2. God’s Timing Is Wise: God has this uncanny ability to do things at just the right time.  It’s almost like he knows what he’s doing!  Here’s an example from my life: When I was deciding which university to go to, I had narrowed my choices down to two.  So I planned to visit them both on the same day together.  The one I liked better was first.  But when I got on campus, I hated it!  It was ugly, the professor I wanted to meet was unavailable, and the people weren’t friendly.  Then we went to the second one and it was great…especially in comparison to the first one.  If I had seen them in a different order I may have had different feelings, which could have led me to a different school, which would have meant that I’d never have met my wife.  God’s timing is wise and we have to trust it!
  3. God’s Timing Is Timely:  This one just sounds silly.  But it is so true!  We’ve all heard stories of people who receive the perfect sum of money at just the right time.  We’ve all had the experience of a friend or family member calling or dropping in with just the right timing.  And many of us have felt strangely compelled to reach out to someone, only to find out that God used us to help them in a special way at just the right time.  God also will sometimes step in just at the right time to help us when there’s a need.  I immediately think of the story of Abraham and Isaac and how God sent a ram to get caught in a thicket at just the right time to prevent Abraham from sacrificing his son.  God’s timing is always right on time!
  4. God’s Timing is Good: This one is probably the hardest one for me.  Why?  Because I think that my timing is good.  I think the way that I would schedule things out is good.  I think my life-plan is good.  And those things may be pretty good.  But when they’re good it’s only because they line up with the goodness of God’s timing.  So sometimes this means that God will withhold things that we thing we may need or want because he can see the bigger picture and therefore he knows what is best for us.  This is a handy reminder that we must have faith in the fact that God’s timing is always a realization of the fact that God has our best interests at heart.
  5. God’s Timing is Divine: Here’s a verse about God’s timing, among other things, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55.8).  It is fair to add here that God’s timing is not our timing.  And since God is smarter, more resourceful, and more selfless than all of us, his timing should always be trusted.  Why then do we so often trust our own timing instead of his?  The answer is simple: we’re proud.  At the bottom is plain ol’ selfish pride that makes it hard for us to accept God’s timing.

 

Friends, it’s high time that we begin to accept God’s timing and stop trying to manipulate him into doing things on our timing!  He’s the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the universe.  He can do with our calendars as he sees fit!

 

When you think of God’s timing what comes to mind?  Share some thoughts and stories in the comments below!