so... to start off, i love me some john mayer. i don't think i've ever disliked one of his songs. even the one i named this post after, "waiting on the world to change"... it's on my ipod for sure. but recently, that lyric has bothered me- the more i think about it, the more i shake my head in disbelief over & over again... "so we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change... we keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change". i know this topic is so random... but seriously, why in the world would we do that?! why would we just sit & wait on the world to change... and think that in doing so, somewhere, someone out there is going to make things better?! i mean, if we have faith in God, yes- there is definitely a call to waiting on Him as we pray & seek (psalm 27:14...one of my favorite verses: "wait for the Lord. be strong & take heart & wait for the Lord") ... of course as believers, we should do these things. and YES, God can perform miracles- of course He can!- He can bring about change with or without us.
but i don't hear anything about waiting for the Lord in these lyrics.
instead, it's "we see everything that's going wrong with the world & those who lead it; we just feel like we don't have the means to rise above & beat it - so we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change." so... what is it exactly that we're waiting for here? for a new president to come & make all things better?? is that where our hope lies? or, waiting for the day when "our generation is gonna rule the population"- so that we can look to ourselves & our own strength & trust that somehow we- yes, WE know what is best- and then we'll make these great changes (but until then, we're just biding our time and watching things fall apart and going about our business and waiting on the world to change)?!!?!
umm, i don't know about you, but this idea really disturbs me. it disturbs me to think that any of us think we've got it all so figured out that when our generation rules the population things will be better. it disturbs me to think of an entire generation- any age generation- just sitting around, waiting on the world to change. it disturbs me to think that i could be one of these people... that i have been, and that i may continue to be, should i choose not to stop & THINK about the implications of doing so!
as a Christian, so often i've been guilty of two things: 1. waiting on others to do what i can do, ie: waiting on others to share the Gospel, to speak of their faith, to build relationships with nonbelievers, to hate the sin but love the sinner, etc. and 2. being foolish enough to think i don't have the resources or capability of jumping in & taking part in change... (in continuing to think about the john mayer lyrics) "now if we had the power to bring our neighbors home from war, they would have never missed a Christmas- no more ribbons on their door"... wait a second- this IS war. there is a spiritual war going on right this very moment, and i- we all- DO have the power to bring our neighbors home from war (spiritually speaking), by showing them the way to Jesus.
in living differently- in making Christianity a lifestyle of love- in sharing our faith- we, as believers, have the ability change the world. "the world" may be our neighbor, our friend, our family member... and we ALL have the tools we need... and yet our mindset has been just "waiting on the world to change"?! i don't want to do that anymore. my guess is that the world is going to keep on being just that: worldly... BUT that God would love nothing more than for me & my friends & family & people i don't even know to challenge ourselves & fellow believers to no longer sit & wait.
yes, most of us would agree, there should be change in the world... and i personally believe it's much bigger than politics & economy & media & all that. it's a spiritual change that needs to take place... beginning here, in America. we- as Christians- must be calling on the Name & presence of the One who has the power to bring about this change! God can & will use each & every one of us who looks to the Him & His strength; who seeks His face always (psalm 105:4)... and, through Him working in & through us, lives will be changed... for eternity. what a privilege it would be to be used by God in this type of world change.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
the Son shines not on us, but in us
i bought some cards when i was in junior high or maybe high school... blank inside, & on the outside they read "the sun shines not on us, but in us". i probably wrote some of you letters on those cards (back in the days before email!). i loved those cards- i loved the quote on the outside (speaking of- man, i used to love quotes! i even started a quote book in high school... i digress) - but i always wished the quote read, "the Son shines not on us, but in us" because i thought, as a Christian, that'd be so much cooler of a quote.
for some reason that saying has been floating around in my head recently. if, in fact, the Son shines not on us, but in us... what does that mean for our daily lives? for starters, i'm guessing it means that God/ His Son/ the Holy Spirit do not exist simply for my life to be "better". that it's not about Him shining down on me, making my life all happy and good and easy, and for my own glory. sure, in some seasons of life, that may be the case- the happy, good, easy part- as one of God's many blessings. but not for my own glory.
if, in fact, i am blessed by God, it's about something greater- something outside myself. He shines not on me, but IN me. and if He shines IN me, i will radiate. i will glow. and if i am glowing, and shining, others will notice. they will wonder- "what is it that's different about this person?" and, if they wonder, i can testify- "the Son shines not on me, but in me". God does not exist simply for me to be blessed, but as a result of His blessing, i am to bless others. as a tim keller sermon i listened to at l'abri says, "i am, therefore i be." i am forgiven, therefore i can't help but act- which is so counter-intuitive, so opposite of pretty much everything we learn in our culture today (and opposite of what other religions teach). we learn, "i be (i do certain things, act a certain way, climb to the top of a certain ladder, etc)... then, as a result, i am (accepted, loved, established, etc)": this is the worldly way. but this is not why Christ came; He came to accept, love, establish who we are, and because of that- we are compelled to action.
was i forgiven, loved, accepted so that i could just lie here in the Son-light of God's mercy and soak it all in and that's it? is it all about me/ my life/ my "happiness"? NO. He shines IN me not on me. i am not blessed by God's eternal blessings- forgiveness, love, acceptance, - and also so many worldly blessings - so that i can simply bask in them and figure i must have done something right in order to receive them. i am blessed to be a blessing. i'm just reminding myself of this, as it's so easy to get caught up in what i want, my happiness, my life: me, me, me. that's not why Christ came! by God's grace, i am blessed (which i am, even when i don't choose to see it! His saving me is blessing enough!); IT'S NOT ABOUT ME. it's about so much more than just me.
my prayer is that i'd hold onto this truth day in & day out: it's not about me. that myself, and all believers, would be compelled to "be" out of a heart-change... basking in the glory of the Son shining in, and therefore through us... as we are blessed- to be a blessing.
for some reason that saying has been floating around in my head recently. if, in fact, the Son shines not on us, but in us... what does that mean for our daily lives? for starters, i'm guessing it means that God/ His Son/ the Holy Spirit do not exist simply for my life to be "better". that it's not about Him shining down on me, making my life all happy and good and easy, and for my own glory. sure, in some seasons of life, that may be the case- the happy, good, easy part- as one of God's many blessings. but not for my own glory.
if, in fact, i am blessed by God, it's about something greater- something outside myself. He shines not on me, but IN me. and if He shines IN me, i will radiate. i will glow. and if i am glowing, and shining, others will notice. they will wonder- "what is it that's different about this person?" and, if they wonder, i can testify- "the Son shines not on me, but in me". God does not exist simply for me to be blessed, but as a result of His blessing, i am to bless others. as a tim keller sermon i listened to at l'abri says, "i am, therefore i be." i am forgiven, therefore i can't help but act- which is so counter-intuitive, so opposite of pretty much everything we learn in our culture today (and opposite of what other religions teach). we learn, "i be (i do certain things, act a certain way, climb to the top of a certain ladder, etc)... then, as a result, i am (accepted, loved, established, etc)": this is the worldly way. but this is not why Christ came; He came to accept, love, establish who we are, and because of that- we are compelled to action.
was i forgiven, loved, accepted so that i could just lie here in the Son-light of God's mercy and soak it all in and that's it? is it all about me/ my life/ my "happiness"? NO. He shines IN me not on me. i am not blessed by God's eternal blessings- forgiveness, love, acceptance, - and also so many worldly blessings - so that i can simply bask in them and figure i must have done something right in order to receive them. i am blessed to be a blessing. i'm just reminding myself of this, as it's so easy to get caught up in what i want, my happiness, my life: me, me, me. that's not why Christ came! by God's grace, i am blessed (which i am, even when i don't choose to see it! His saving me is blessing enough!); IT'S NOT ABOUT ME. it's about so much more than just me.
my prayer is that i'd hold onto this truth day in & day out: it's not about me. that myself, and all believers, would be compelled to "be" out of a heart-change... basking in the glory of the Son shining in, and therefore through us... as we are blessed- to be a blessing.
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