My scripture reading this morning included two passages, interestingly juxtaposed: Luke 21 and the story of the widow's gift, and Isaiah 6, the story of Isaiah's "Here am I, send me" moment. I was struck anew by the widow's gift and Jesus' response. It is easy to give out of our abundance. It is easy for me to do something if I have the time. It is easy for me to give if I have a couple of extra bucks in my pocket and I'm not jonesing for a candy bar. It is easy for me to respond to God's call if I feel that I have enough ability.

But she gave out of her poverty. She reached in, pulled out all that she had to give, and gave it. And she gave the better gift. Better for whom I wonder? Did it actually benefit her life or did it just make her "more religious"? I guess one doesn't know until one tries it, steps out and finds there actually is something there.

Why do the greatest adventures, the most meaningful experiences, always require faith?

In our Bible study at church we have been exploring the book of Romans. We have spent the past couple of weeks in chapter 8 and the question arose "What, exactly is this life in the spirit?" A great question. And I can give all manner of spiritual sounding answers for it. But how do we achieve it? And does it make any difference. The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, a true masterpiece which will become to be considered a spiritual classic, I am sure. He speaks of five dimensions or phases in the process:

1. Confidence and reliance upon Jesus
Before we can start the process we have to be confident that following Jesus will get us there.

“...and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.”
John 3:15 (the Message)

This confidence leads to:

2. A desire to be Jesus’ apprentice
Willard: “Only a sustained historical process involving many confusions and false motivations could lead to our current situation, in which faith in Jesus is thought to have no natural connection with discipleship to him. Our apprenticeship to him means that we live within his word, that is, put his teachings into practice (John 8:31). And this progressively integrates our entire existence into the glorious world of eternal living. We become ‘free indeed’ (John 8:36).”

3. Obedience
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments...They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” John 14:15,21
We have to put into practice what God reveals to us.

Willard: “Love of Jesus sustains us through the course of discipline and training that makes obedience possible. Without that love, we will not stay to learn.

Obedience , with the life of discipline it requires, both leads to and, then, issues from the:

4. Pervasive inner transformation of the heart and soul
WE BEGIN TO CHANGE.

Galatians 5:22: By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

These “fruits of the spirit” are examples of what starts to naturally happen to us. We don’t try to be patient. We don’t force ourselves to be peaceful. That is just what we are.

This, in turn, leads to an area we rarely, bordering on never, talk about:

5. Power to work the works of the kingdom

Jesus said to his disciples in John 14:12: “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these...”

Do we believe this?

Willard: “Perhaps we feel baffled and incompetent before this statement. But let us keep in mind that the world we live in desperately needs such works to be done. They would not be just for show or to impress ourselves or others. But frankly, even a moderate size ‘work’ is more than most people’s life could sustain. One good public answer to our prayer might be enough to lock some of us into weeks of spiritual superiority. Great power requires great character if it is to be a blessing and not a curse, and that character is something we only grow toward.

Yet it is God’s intent that in his kingdom we should have as much power as we can bear for good. Indeed, his ultimate objective int he development of human character is to empower us to do what we want. And when we are fully developed in the likeness of Jesus, fully have ‘the mind of Christ,’ that is what will happen--to his great joy and relief, no doubt.”

I recently came across a pretty enlightening statistic. According to the Barna Research Group, 80% of all those in church today (all churches across the board) began their relationship with God before they turned 18. That is a pretty significant number. It points to why it is so vital for us to have engaging ministries for our children and youth.

Two things popped into my mind and heart as I reflected on this statistic. First, I was overcome with gratitude that I am able to serve in a church that understands the importance of ministry to children and youth and supports it wholeheartedly with their dollars and their time. Second, it ignited a renewed sense of urgency to continue our efforts to reach out to children and youth in our community, many of whom desperately need to hear the Good News that God loves them.

When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”
Matthew 18:19-20 (The Message)

In my devotional reading I read Matthew 18:15-35. The pieces of the passage were familiar to me, but maybe I haven't read them together before. Or maybe God opened my eyes and my heart. The section is all about relationships. It begins with how to handle a situation in which we perceive someone has hurt us. It ends with forgiveness (70x7 times, Peter!) and the well-known story of the two debtors.

Tucked between those two ideas is v. 19-20. It's like Jesus is saying, "Here is why this is so important: God responds when you are together, when you are in agreement." That is so incredibly powerful. And if I were completely honest, I have a hard time believing it. But what I am going to do is practice what I preach and try it. It's huge. In my Greek class yesterday, we were talking about how the Christian faith and practice was very much thought of as communal. We are in this together. Many, many, many (I can't say most because I don't know for sure) of the "you"s in the New Testament are actually "yous"- they are plural. Maybe the key to actualizing, hmmm...spiritual effectiveness, power...for lack of better terms right now...is to join together before God in prayer.

"put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Luke 5:4

"The purpose of a ship isn't to stay docked in the harbor. Our human souls weren't made for shallow water. We must dive into deeper waters with the help of the Holy Spirit. In these deep places the wonderful treasures of the spiritual life are found." Joshua Choonmin Kang, Deep-Rooted in Christ

Staying in the shallows is safe. It is comfortable. I know what is in the shallow water. I have been splashing around there my entire life. But Jesus always beckons the disciple to go deeper. That is where the "good catch" is. There, in the deep, is the stuff of transformation in love. Can we, will we, trust the one that beckons us to "put out into the deep water," confident that he has our best interest at heart? I, for one, am beginning to be able to imagine taking the risk.

True ministry begins not with giving but with receiving. We need to be filled up before we have anything to give to others. John told us that "God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him" (Colossians 1:19 NIV). (p. 25)

Jesus enjoyed his solitude, but he was also at home in a crowd. He was balanced. The time that he spent alone prepared him for the times he spent with people. In the same way, his time in the crowds prepared him for the refreshment of solitude. (p.26)

- Joshua Choonmin Kang
Deep-Rooted in Christ: The Way of Transformation
IVP, 2007

I started reading this book because I have definitely been lacking on the "filling up" side of things lately. It came highly recommended from the folks over at Renovare. It is so easy to get caught up in the "doing." It's exciting. You can see the results. But you dry up so fast.

It's so hard for me still to get to the place to be able to say that, for me, a pastor, the filling up is just as important, more important than the doing. And it's exponentially harder for people not "in the biz" to get that. I need to live it and model it.

So I am setting aside the church growth and effectiveness books for a bit and focus on sitting with Jesus. Then I'll go back into the crowds--that's my job and I really do love it. But who I am is a child of God and friend of Jesus, and that I must nurture.

I have been reading and re-reading Dallas Willard's Book The Divine Conspiracy. It is truly a masterpiece of spiritual formation and growth. Well, actually a masterpiece about life since he, more than any other Christian writer I have encountered, describes what holistic life in Christ is all about. Sometime I'll write more about my experience with the book.

He quotes an author, Clyde Reid, whom I hadn't heard of. He was the Secretary of Evangelism for the Board of Homeland Ministries of the United Church of Christ (we love the titles in our tribe) when he wrote the book The God Evaders in 1966. So here is Dallas Willard, a Southern Baptist and philosophy professor at The University of Southern California, quoting a UCC denominational minister. This has got to be good stuff.

Willard quotes Reid's "Law of Religious Evasion," which states that, "as a kind of principle or law of human nature: We structure our churches and maintain them so as to shield us from God and protect us from genuine religious experience." [Willard, 201 quoting Reid, 41]. Willard goes on to share this from Reid's "telling observations of church life:

The adult members of churches today rarely raise serious religious questions for fear of revealing their doubts or being thought of as strange. There is an implicit conspiracy of silence on religious matters in the churches. This conspiracy covers up the fact that the churches do not change lives or influence conduct to any appreciable degree [Willard, 202, quoting Reid, 19].

I have a copy of God Evaders on the way to me. And I am wondering why no one was listening to Reid--especially folks from his/our own denomination--when he wrote this back in 1966. It's good stuff, and it gives me hope. We can turn this thing around!

I'd love to hear responses to these ideas. Do you agree? Disagree? Do Reid's words describe your experience? How can we change it?

Post here, email me, or discuss in the forum (if it's your first visit, you'll need to register). For a lengthy, insightful discussion of the book, head to this blog.

Looking forward to hearing from you!