just imagine...

reading over the early part of the book of john's revelation, it's easy to get nervous around this Jesus: He's a veritable dynamo of power so stunning that john collapses, faints dead away at the sight of Him.
where IS this Jesus of power in our nifty, nice, well-oiled and well-heeled churches? as anne lamott says, if we really knew, really believed, what we already know (no we don't need no new revelation)...we'd wear flak jackets and protective helmets to church because we expect GOD to show up as HE IS! (and more than just a little fur would fly!)

so after a weekend of "give us clean hands, pure hearts....let us not lift our souls to another"...what is it that we're looking for? what is it that we want? do we REALLY want the Risen Christ to disrupt our neatly-packaged programs, our ordered lives, to mess up our homes and our proiorities with His? i see the reaction of an elderly pastor's wife to the messiness of loving people..."Well, what I want to know is, what is the value of what those people got out of that experience!?" (Was it worth it to inconvenience us for others? It doggone sure better be!) and i see my own self-righteous attitude reflected in hers. i want the credit. i want the attention of my martyrdom. aren't i just the sweetest?

if we are indeed servants, does not that mean that whatever is given to us to do (whether we percieve that it uses our prodigious talents, glorifies our amazing "gifts" or not) is what we DO. am i missing the point here? servants DO what they are told.

or is this "AMERICAN servants for the Jesus whose eyes are a flaming fire"? A servanthood in which we say, "Oh, well, that's nice and a good idea...someone should do that, but it's not my gift. that's not my favorite area of ministry, so i'll ignore it."

is that servanthood? it certainly seems to be the case in our little happy feelgood culture. let's hire someone to do the ministry we don't like. maybe we can farm out the hard things that make us face our own hideous self-righteousness and be forced to throw ourselves on His mercy with repentant hearts. But the LORD WHO DIED AND LIVES AGAIN who says, "I know your work, your programs, your nicely-ordered ways and I am here to break it all down, throw it to the wind like the seven stars I hold in My hand... so that you can learn to do what you don't feel like doing! THAT is how MY Kingdom comes--one mercy at at time!"

being both servants and His own beloved children, we are doubly bound to obey. God give us grace to see ourselves as You see us and to repent our selfishness that is so ingrained, so affirmed and coddled, even in our church experiences, that we scarcely notice it anymore. "it's just the way i am." and we must all accept that, must we not, so that we all feel self-acceptance?
what if "self-acceptance" creates a situation where it is impossible to have "GOD-acceptance"?
where do we go then?

Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts (for the pure in heart "shall see GOd" in every situation); let us not life our souls to another (not a pastor, not a style, not a program).

God-centered, Christ-honoring, Holy Spirit-powered. imagine what could happen in a congregation of servant-sons (hmm. sounds like Jesus!) who were UNIFIED and willing to follow the One who says, "BEHOLD! I was dead, and I AM ALIVE forever!" wherever He leads them.

Get your flak jackets and protective helmets and come along!