Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Wabi Sabi Christianity

I picked up a little book the other day called "The Invisible Church - A Journey into the Future of the UK Church".  I'm honestly not sure why I grabbed it other than it was very inexpensive and sounded kind of intersesting. 

It is in fact an interesting read, although at this point I would not yet consider it as being a must read, but then again, I'm only a quarter of the way through it so far.  But something did catch my attention while reading tonight.  The book is a fiction story in which the author plays the main character.  One night he is hit by lightning and finds himself transported 40 years into the future where the church as he (and we) know it in the UK has all but disappeared.  Each chapter tells the story of what he learns in this future and ends with a letter written by an individual who is back in our current time reading over the notes of the author regarding his trip into the future. 

At one point the person reviewing the author's account of his travels into the future is talking about how the early church met in homes and how in the UK many denominations can't afford some of these beautiful ornate buildings they own anymore because of dwindling congregations.  He brings up the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi.  This really caught my attention and I ended up googling wabi-sabi.  The basic concept is finding beauty in things that are simple, imperfect and humble, thing unconventional.  In the book and online wabi sabi is referenced as "a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete." 

Maybe it is just because of my recent walk with the Lord and the fact that I'm part of what some might call a house church, but this concept really resonated with me.  I've grown more in my relationship with the Lord and with my church family since we began meeting in this way about 4 years ago than I ever did in "traditional" church.  Doing "church" for us is nothing fancy - we worship together, eat together, study God's Word together and pray together.  Our singing is many times off key and usually led by just a simple guitar.  Our prayers are often filled with long periods of quiet and are not usually what one would consider flowery or polished.  They are often brutally honest and filled with raw emotion.  We don't have a set structure per se.  We have a basic schedule we kind of follow but we are open to wherever the Holy Spirit chooses to lead us.  This means that if He shows up and leads discussion, worship or prayer in a particular direction we try to follow.  Sometimes we follow our "schedule" and other times we'll spend the majority of our time in worship or prayer if we feel His leading to do so.  We are becoming very honest with one another and learning to hold one another accountable.  We are honest and real with one another without taking offense.  We look to the Holy Spirit to be our guide and teacher. Jesus is our High Priest, our Pastor.  We do have an individual we see as our "elder" but our leader is Jesus.  We are far from having it figured out, but we are all united in our desire to pursue our God together and follow His leading the best we can.

So this concept of a wabi sabi church spoke to me.  People make up the church (the body of Christ) not a building, not traditions, not a denomination.  We are all sinful people and therefore imperfect and incomplete.  As I grow closer to the Lord, I'm beginning myself to see more beauty and meaning in simple things.  Jesus was not a flashy preacher who used a fancy sound system and colorful lights.  He was a simple carpenter who was humble and felt no need to use fancy advertising or marketing campaigns to draw people in.  He hung out with simple people and met them where they were.

As I get older I begin to be amazed at how we as humans make things so difficult.  I think many times things truly are much more simple than we make them.  I find it amazing how God and His Love for us can be so complex and yet so simple at the same time.

Bottom line for me?  I'm not saying that tradtional church, traditions, fancy buildings, sound systems, etc are bad, because they are not in and of themselves.  However, if we begin to focus on these things in such a way that our focus comes off of Jesus, then they are a stumbling block.  Even if our intentions are good and noble, they can derail us if we stop focusing on Jesus and following Him instead of our ideas of how things should work.  The concept of house churches can be a stumbling block if the focus becomes defending what we do and how we do it rather than on worshiping and pursuing our God.  In the end, I think I agree with the character in the book when he says at the end of one of his letters -
"I should like to see some wabi sabi worship; modest, humble, unconventional.  It would take place in wabi-sabi buildings; simple, domestic, ordinary.  And it would reflect perhaps, a wabi-sabi God; a God who delights in things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete, and who wants to bring them permanence, perfection and completeness."

Monday, April 05, 2010

Fruitcake & Ice Cream

I have my house to myself tonight - no kids, no husband - so I pulled out a DVD that I bought months ago called "Fruitcake and Ice Cream - An Unlikely Collision of Friendship and Grace".  In it Louie Giglio  shares the story of a young college student named Ashley and her "fruitcake" roomate.  With permission he shares this story by reading excerpts from Ashley's journal. 

Ashley was a typical college student in her final semester of college, trying to balance a life of partying and studying.  Events in her life have caused her to look for a new roommate and the girl who moves in with her is different from anyone she has ever known.  She is a fruitcake, a Christian.  Ashley's journal details her life over the semester and tells a powerful story of God's Grace.

At the beginning of the DVD Loui shares from 2 Corinthians 5 and how it talks about God's Grace.  He defines grace as being "God working".  God working, not us.  God working to do what we can not do.

He also explains in the talk about how those who claim to not believe in God, many times do this as a defense mechanism.  They think that God does not believe in them, so in order to protect themselves they choose to not believe in Him.  Wow - that really got me to thinking about how important it is for us to understand grace and be able to share that with others.  To really share God's Heart and His Love for us and for others with those who think He does not believe in them.

If you have a chance to watch this DVD I highly recommend it.  This is the most powerful story of grace I believe I have ever heard.  Even more so because the story is not being told from her perspective after the fact.  It is Louie actually reading her journal entries which she wrote during this period of time when she wanted nothing to do with a God who she believed had no time for her.  A period when she thought her new roommate was nothing but a Fruitcake.

268 Store Fruitcake & Ice Cream DVD
Amazon.com Fruitcake & Ice Cream

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Fear - Part 1: My Champion

I've been looking up verses regarding fear recently.   God is dealing with me on the issue of fear and how it affects my trusting Him.  One verse given to me was Deuteronomy 20:1-4.  At first I glanced over this verse, quickly dismissing it.  After all, it is all about going to war which doesn't apply to me - or so I thought.

The Lord drew me back to these verses and as I reread them He began to open my eyes.  Now these verses which I so recently dismissed, have become some of my favorites.

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.  When you are about to go into battle the priest shall come forward and address the army.  He shall say: "Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies.  Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them.  For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."  ~ Deuteronomy 20:1-4

So, how does this apply to us?  First, we are all in a battle, a war against the enemy and this world he currently controls.  We are constantly battling the temptations and lies of the world.  Sometimes, or many times, these circumstances of our lives may seem so large as to be impossible to defeat, but the Lord tells us to not be fainthearted or afraid.  He is the God who delivered us from Egypt.  "But wait!" you may say, "I've not been to Egypt.  God hasn't rescued me from there."  Oh, but He has, Beloved.  Egypt signifies our lives before Christ, our lives of slavery to sin, to the world.  He has rescued us from this!

Further in the verse it speaks of the priest who stands before the army.  He tells them to not be afraid and assures them of victory.  How does he know this?  How can he be so very confident?  How can we trust him?  We can be confident because our priest, our liaison between us and God is Jesus himself.  He stands confidently before us amidst all the circumstances of our lives and tells us not to fear because He knows the final chapter of this story.  We are victorious in Him!

The Lord pointed out one more small detail to me regarding these verses.  A small detail, easily missed, but with huge implications.  Read that last line again.

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. (v.4)

The Lord is not just telling us we will be victorious, He is fighting for us to give us that victory.  I recently watched the new Alice in Wonderland movie.  In it the White Queen is looking for a champion to fight on her behalf against her sister, the Queen of Hearts.  This is how things used to be done.  The Kings (or Queens) did not fight, they were too valuable.  Instead they would choose a champion to fight on their behalf.  The fight between David and Goliath was such as this.  Goliath was the champion of the Philistines and David was King Saul's.

But our God likes to stir things up a bit.  His logic and ways of doing things many times fly in the face of the world.  You see, as the King of Kings, He doesn't call for a champion to fight on His behalf.  We are not called to be God's champions.  Instead, the King Himself chooses to be our Champion!  He is not saying "Trust me because you will win."   He is telling us "Trust me because I have already fought the battle on your behalf and gained the victory!"

If God, the Great I AM, the King of Kings, is our Champion, what more can we possibly ask for?  What could we possibly have to fear?