Maturity…

This morning I have chosen to talk a bit about the Psych theme song.  You will notice that the clip below is not the actual opening for the TV show.  However, this clip has a number of funny scenes from the show as well as the whole song.

Again, there is one phrase that stuck out to me this morning as I was watching the clip.  At a couple of points in the song, the line “I’m not inclined to resign to maturity” is sung. For some reason that line sticks with me when I think about growing in faith.

I have been asked a number of times lately what I thought the most significant issue facing the American Church is.  On those occasions I have given different answers, but all of those answers could be more simply put into the above phrase from the song.

Far too often we settle for the milk to nourish our faith instead of the meat.  In other words we tend to practice what I call fast food Christianity.  A lot of our churches are full of people who drive through our churches (meaning that they come to church on Sunday for something quick so they can get through their week) and expect that they will be nourished. Fast food doesn’t do a great job in giving our bodies what we need and neither does coming to church on Sunday morning with the expectation that you are good for the week if you put your hour in.For fast food Christians, church then is a consumer product just like everything else in our lives and if it doesn’t live up to our expectations we toss it out for a newer shinier model.  We do it with cars and toasters and anything else we can think of.  It is also done with church.  Church then becomes something we do when there is time to fit into our busy schedules and little else about faith or God is given much thought to the rest of the week.

The fact of the matter is that the church is not inclined to resign to maturity.  We prefer a shallow faith that does not challenge the status quo.  We prefer a faith that keeps God at arms length and when we do want that relationship with God it is because we want or need something from Him. If we are to be the body of Christ, then let us incline to resign ourselves to maturity.  Consider these words from Hebrews 5:12-14:

¹²For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.¹³For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.

¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (The NASB)

More Than Meets the Eye…

When I was growing up in the 80′s there were a number of great cartoons.  There was G.I Joe, Voltron, and Mask.  These were great, but my all time favorite was Transformers.  I couldn’t tell you why I liked it better than the others exactly, but I knew I would follow Optimus Prime into battle without hesitation.  For those who don’t know transformers, which seems unlikely but not impossible, the idea is that giant robots turn into things like cars, trucks, and planes.  There is more to it, but that is enough for the idea. Now…lets see what what me might learn from their theme song shall we.

I think the phrase that sticks out the most to me this morning is “more than meets the eye”  Just as the transformers hide in plain sight, I think people do it to. We put on our public persona’s and when asked how we are doing we may answer with fine or good when the reality is our life is privately a mess.  We all wear masks.  We hide behind them with the hope that nobody will be able to see how broken or messed up we really are. In fact, we do this so often that sometimes we forget who we are and begin to believe the things we tell others.  I think this is why honest self-examination is so important to us. There is more to each of us than meets they eye, sometimes more than we realize about ourselves.  If you have been hiding behind your masks, then consider this from Psalm 139:

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

May we allow God to search the very depths of our soul and reveal to us what is behind the masks that wear…may He show each of us what is hidden in our hearts that He might transform us to be more like Jesus.

Cheers…

I am working on something a little different.  At CCO New Staff Training, I was reminded that I have watched a ton of TV in my lifetime.  I was also reminded that I know a lot of TV show theme songs.  I have been giving this a great deal of thought and have concluded that there are some really cool things we can learn from TV show theme songs if we are willing to do some thinking.  So, with that in mind, I am going to be posting about TV show theme songs and what they can teach us about God and the human condition.  It sounds weird I know, but come along for the ride anyway and see if we can’t learn something together.  Lets start with one most all of should know pretty well:

Now there is a lot in that minute that we could chat about (perhaps I’ll deal with some of it in a later post), but I want to focus on the phrase “sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name”.  I think this taps into one of, if not the greatest of human desires.  We all want to be known and to know others.  We want to be loved for who we are without fear of rejection or condemnation.  Unfortunately we put up walls and wear masks to hide who we are and if we want to know others we work hard to break through the walls and masks that they put up.  I think Cheers was so popular because people could relate to the idea of a place where they were accepted quirks and all.  That show is so relateable even after it has been off the air for so long, because it rings true to us…we all want to find a place where we are known and surrounded by a community of people who love us.

If this rings true to you…if you want to be known and to know, there is one who knows you more deeply than you can imagine…consider Psalm 139:

^1-6 God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
then up ahead and you’re there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can’t take it all in!

^7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

^13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

^17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!

^23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.  (the Message)

May you find grace and peace in the God of all creation.