Hands and Feet

We are to be Jesus’ hands and feet. That takes a different tone on Good Friday.

Your faith in Jesus was made real to you by others. The only way that the people in your neighborhood are going to have a faith made real in their life is because you choose or someone else chooses to be that other to them. We need to be that person in their life who is proclaiming a different way to live. We must surrender ourselves and become that other to others that someone once was to you. We must become Jesus’ hands and feet.

Just over a month ago, I was in Liberia on a short-term mission trip. Our neighborhoods are not going to be the recipient of missionaries. When was the last time you saw a church started in your neighborhood by missionaries? When was the last time you saw a missionary meeting the needs of your neighbors and sharing the Gospel? Probably never.

Unless we realize that we are missionaries.

The reason that God has put us where we are is to be the missionaries to our neighbors, our co-workers, and our friends. The reason God has placed our churches where they are is to further His Kingdom in our neighborhoods. We are to be Jesus’ hands and feet right where we are.

This short clip illustrates it well:

When we send a missionary overseas, we expect them to share the gospel. But we also expect them to live sacrificially and meet the needs of their neighborhood. Over there, among the “lost,” we expect them to live like the guy who jumped in front of the oncoming Subway train to save a stranger. To be Jesus' hands and feet, we must be willing to die.

Our neighbors, our worklplaces, our families, and our churches can be better. They have to be better. But it must start with us. We are to be Jesus’ hands and feet bringing His will into reality.

Who reading this wants to commit their life to being a missionary to their neighbor or to their workplace? If you claim to be a Christian, then you have already made a commitment to such crazy endeavors. You have already said that you want to be his sacrificial hands and feet.

Our churches are filled with people who live as if making more disciples can't happen. Our churches have some people who won’t allow changes to facilitate that happening. Don’t be one of those people. Actually, ignore those people. The mission that Jesus has placed us on. The mission of being the lifeline to our community is way too important to get it cluttered with doing church rather than being church.

Unfortunately, at times…
…we care more about buildings than we do making disciples.
…we care more about music than we do about living a life of worship.
…we care more about programs than we do reaching out.
…we care more about our own selfish needs than we do about living the calling that God has placed on us.
…we care more about receiving blessings from God than we do about about being His hands and feet.

And because of those bad priorities, we get bad results. In the town I minister in, less than 20% of the people went to church on March 25. That is compared to a national average of 35%. Maybe your neighborhood is doing better than that, but none of our neighborhoods are exactly where God wants them to be. They can always use more people moving and acting like Jesus' feet and hands.

If we actually believe that our neighborhood could be what God intended it to be and began working toward it, that which many view as impossible would become reality. It’s not going to come easily; it’s going to take us being His hands and feet, going where others say those hands and feet shouldn't go.

Dr. Dionysius Lardner, who was a prominent scientist and economist in the early 1800s, is famous for being wrong. He couldn't see the new ordinary. Once he argued, “Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.” Today, people will regularly travel at 268 mph on the Shanghai Maglev Train. There are no known reports of passengers dying of asphyxia. At that speed, if a similar high-speed rail were in place here, we would be able to get to Chicago from Ft. Wayne in around thirty-six minutes. Or for you Yankee fans, from Ft. Wayne to New York in two hours and twenty-four minutes. 268 mph is a speed that is way beyond what Dr. Lardner thought would kill humans is now routinely in use every day in China. Things thought impossible can become reality.

Wilbur Wright, in a speech to the Aero Club in France on November 5, 1908, said, “I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years.” Two years later, the two Wright brothers were flying their first airplane at Kitty Hawk. The impossible became reality.

All around us, what was once thought impossible is reality.

Unfortunately, spiritually speaking, the impossible, when it comes to church, has not become reality in our neighborhoods. Paul wrote, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13 ESV). Yet we languish as if there is no way we can live a selfless life following Jesus here on earth. We subsist, enslaved to the same old sins that others have overcome. We spiritually endure life without experiencing the power of God.

Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish Christian, wrote a parable entitled Tame Geese: A Revivalistic Meditation. It is the story of a community of talking geese who would gather together on Sundays for their religious services. “The essential content of the sermon was: what a lofty destiny the geese had, what a high goal the Creator (and every time this word was mentioned the geese curtsied and the ganders bowed the head) had set before the geese; by the aid of wings they could fly away to distant regions, blessed climes, where properly they were at home, for here they were only strangers.” The geese were made to fly, yet after hearing the goose-changing message, the geese would all get out of their seats and waddle home. Kierkegaard concluded the story with the phrase, “Man also has wings, he has an imagination.” Yet we continue to waddle.

Let’s stop waddling. Let’s start flying. It’s amazing what these hands and feet can do.

This is part of a series that I wrote showing the mission trip I took to Liberia.

I divided the subjects into individual pages, for ease of use.

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Economy

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Wilfred

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - A Few Notable Places

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Food

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Heart of Grace Elementary School

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - The Children

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Water

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Monrovia Hope Center

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Marshall Hope Center

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Leadership Training Institute

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Gifts

2012 - Liberian Mission Trip - Our Brothers and Sisters

Here are a few articles that I wrote upon my return:
One Drop

You Shall Love Your Neighbor As...

Sunrise in the Clouds over Europe

Who Will Be God's Ambassadors?

FAQ on Liberia trip from questions asked at an Indiana Tech Sociology class

Hands and Feet

Toward an Extraordinary Ordinary

It was leaf raking day at the Clem house. We had the boys, rakes, and bags ready to go. But then I couldn’t put the bag onto the trash container. It just wouldn’t stretch enough, or so I thought. Lindsay saw that I was having a difficult time, came right over, unleashed her superpowers and stretched the bag onto the container. Feeling like an idiot, I said, “I thought it wouldn’t fit, but now I see that it does.”

The next three bags were easy to put on. All it took was me knowing in my head that they actually fit. What I once thought impossible was easily doable.

A trash bag stretching to fit a container is relatively unimportant, but have you ever noticed that once humans know something is possible, it becomes much easier for everyone to do.

Our lives are filled with so many things that were once extraordinary that have now become ordinary. Things once thought impossible are now routinely done. We pick up a phone in the middle of nowhere and talk to others. We can print paper in the convenience of our homes. We can turn on our televisions and watch moving pictures instantly streaming off the internet. We live in a time where we experience an ordinary life that was once considered extraordinary.

At this time, I would like to take a little break and define my terms to avoid any confusion. When I say ordinary, I don’t mean boring. Tacos are ordinary, and I don’t find them boring. I could eat them every meal and be happy. Ordinary is commonplace, usual, or normal. This should not be confused with inferior or mediocre. We are surrounded by many great, ordinary things. When I say extraordinary, I mean exceptional or things that are beyond what we commonly experience.

Dr. Dionysius Lardner, who was a prominent scientist and economist in the early 1800s, is famous for being wrong. He couldn't see the new ordinary. Once he argued, “Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.” Today, people will regularly travel at 268 mph on the Shanghai Maglev Train. There are no known reports of passengers dying of asphyxia. At that speed, if a similar high-speed rail were in place here, we would be able to get to Chicago from Ft. Wayne in around thirty-six minutes. Or for you Yankee fans, from Ft. Wayne to New York in two hours and twenty-four minutes. 268 mph is a speed that is way beyond what Dr. Lardner thought would kill humans is now routinely in use every day in China. The extraordinary has become ordinary.

Wilbur Wright, in a speech to the Aero Club in France on November 5, 1908, said, “I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years.” Two years later, the two Wright brothers were flying their first airplane at Kitty Hawk. The extraordinary has become ordinary.

All around us, what was once thought extraordinary has now become ordinary.

Unfortunately, spiritually speaking, the extraordinary has not become ordinary. Paul wrote, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13 ESV). Yet we languish as if there is no way we can live a selfless life following Jesus here on earth. We subsist, enslaved to the same old sins that others have overcome. We spiritually endure life without experiencing the power of God.

Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish Christian, wrote a parable entitled Tame Geese: A Revivalistic Meditation. It is the story of a community of talking geese who would gather together on Sundays for their religious services. “The essential content of the sermon was: what a lofty destiny the geese had, what a high goal the Creator (and every time this word was mentioned the geese curtsied and the ganders bowed the head) had set before the geese; by the aid of wings they could fly away to distant regions, blessed climes, where properly they were at home, for here they were only strangers.” The geese were made to fly, yet after hearing the goose-changing message, the geese would all get out of their seats and waddle home. Kierkegaard concluded the story with the phrase, “Man also has wings, he has an imagination.” Yet we continue to waddle.

All we have to do is look around and we can see extraordinary people living in ways that are completely ordinary to them. Then there are people who experience God in extraordinary ways. Then there is Jesus.

The extraordinary can become ordinary. We just have to know it is possible. What do you need to believe is possible? In Jesus, all things are possible. Believe.   

I Can Do All Things

We often confuse contentment with complacency. Random House says that complacency is “a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.” Biblical contentment is being “sufficient for oneself; independent of external circumstances; contented with one’s lot, with one’s means, though the slenderest.”

Paul wrote, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Contentment is not the opposite of drive. True spiritual contentment will not cause us to be complacent; it will actually be a catalyst to spur us forward.

Pastor Shannon O’Dell recently wrote Transforming Church in Rural America. In it, he states that “Leadership is resisting the urge to settle.” It would be good to broaden that a little bit and say that “Living is resisting the urge to settle.” When we are content, that shapes us into believing that we can do all things through Jesus who strengthens us. That will truly free us to live.

When we allow success, appearance, some activity, or happiness to be the gauge of our inner peace, then we will never have contentment and will never be able to accomplish anything of any significance because we will be too cowardly and afraid.

We need to understand that which Joseph understood at the end of the book of Genesis. We are left with this thought:

‘As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” [Genesis 50:20 (ESV)].

When you feel that you have hit rock bottom, realize that God will use this for good.  If Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, imprisoned, and had to endure captivity before seeing better days, could recognize that good came from the bad, then we need to keep that in focus when we are going through our valleys.  This pit will eventually be good for us; we just don't have that full perspective yet.

I once heard the story of a man who was contemplating committing suicide. But instead of killing himself, he decided to smuggle Bibles into China. If he was caught and killed, that would be fine with him. But instead, through the process, he found meaning in his life.

I don’t know if that story is true or not, but it illustrates the point that we truly live when we die to ourselves and begin to live our lives for Jesus. We can get out of the situation we find ourselves in, but you are the only person who can pick up the shards of your dreams and go with them into the future. You are the only one that can surrender your will to God’s will. You are the only one that can say, “I will look for what God wants me to learn in every situation.” In that, you will find true contentment and meaning in life.

May we build our lives on the rock, Jesus Christ.

Our Misguided Attempts at being Content

I googled “how to be content.”  There were a few articles from a biblical perspective, but the majority of the articles talked about meditating and emptying our minds.  There were also articles on goals, being self-disciplined, and organized.  These might be good things, but we do not achieve contentment through emptying ourselves, by going into some room and meditating, by finding a better filing system, or by having good long-term goals. 

In America, especially if you had to read Henry David Thoreau’s Walden in high school, we are inundated with an American ideal of self-sufficiency.  In this mindset, there is nothing more noble than having your own farm, living off of your land, and not needing anything from anyone.  It is an alluring concept out here in rural America, but it also does not lead to contentment.

Spiritual self-sufficiency is similar; it is independence from outside influences.  This doesn’t mean that there will not any outside influences; it means that we will be able to remain spiritually sound while experiencing or enduring them.  We are incapable of isolating ourselves from situations that will be bring us happiness or sadness.  What we need to do is reach a point where we will no longer allow those experiences to define who we are, so we can be content in all situations.  As a pastor, I can get suckered into basing my self-esteem on attendance.  When doing this, I would be happy on a good week; I would be sad on a small week.  This is an easy pitfall for a minister to fall into, but it misses the point.  On that path lays madness, pride, and discouragement, not contentment.

But what wrong target are you shooting at in your work life, in your family life, or in your life out in the community?  Where do you get your sense of self-worth?  Is your success based on your income, career, children, social status, or popularity?  All of those things can go away in an instant.  If we measure our success in any other way than being faithful to God and our relationship with Him, we will eventually be met with disappointment. 

We need to live in the understanding that we are not in charge of results.  We are given the opportunity to live in God's will, but we do not have to carry the stress of creating the results.  “Success” or “failure” in the world’s eyes does not really matter.  What matters is whether we are doing what we know God would want us to do in the situation we are in.  Knowing that we are in God’s will is how we can be content in plenty, in hunger, in abundance, and in need.  That is how we can be just as happy when our savings account is overflowing as we can be when we don’t know how to make ends meet.  The solution is not to ignore things, but to place all things in their proper perspective under Jesus and to rely on Him.  

Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Philippi:

“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me”  [Philippians 4:11b-13 (ESV)].

Liberty and freedom are political catchwords right now.  They are our rallying cry to change this nation, but political changes will not produce true liberty and freedom.  Those are just a temporary façade.  True liberty and freedom come in being content in Jesus Christ.  If we are content in Christ, then we will be able to live life with total abandon in every situation - going after the will of God no matter what the cost. 

Prosperity might lead to happiness, but what happens when we our assets dwindle or lose their value?  Beauty might bring a sense of worth, but what happens when it dims?  Great friends might bring about good times, but what happens when there is conflict and the friendship is strained or broken?  All of these are good.  Who would not enjoy financial security, good looks, or great friends?  But none of these are a good foundation for our sense of self-worth.  Discontentment comes we place our inner peace on wrong foundations like these.  For the good things that bring happiness, when they are our focus, can lead to pride, overconfidence, and a blindness to the blessings given to us and the needs of others around us.  An inner life that is based on the situation we currently find ourselves in is fleeting and will disappear when adversity or failure comes. 

It is guaranteed that many of the externals of your life will change as you age.  Maybe you will find yourself wealthier in five years, but you could be poorer.  Depending on your age, you will either be prettier in five years or your looks will continue to wane.  Your car will need replaced.  Your house will need continued maintenance.  Loved ones might even pass on within five years.  Tragedy will strike.  Five years isn’t that long of a time, but within five years, all of the externals in your life might change.  Are you able to weather the storm of things getting worse?  Is your life built on the rock of Jesus?  Or is he just one of the decorations on the wall of your sand castle?

Finding Contentment in our Busy World

There was a prosperous businessman visiting the ocean on vacation.  He was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked. 

"Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman. 

"Why don't you catch more fish than you need?' the rich man asked. 

"What would I do with them?" 

"You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me." 

The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?" 

"You could sit down and enjoy life," said the businessman.

"What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.

(Modernized and adapted from Our Daily Bread, May 18, 1994.)

Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Philippi.

“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me”  [Philippians 4:11b-13 (ESV)].

Contentment.  We seek to find it, but we get distracted from its true source in the mad rush of life.  Contentment is not found in consuming the most products.  It won’t be in the next movie, an increased paycheck, the next vacation, the next visit with family, or the next product we buy.  We have been bamboozled, time after time, into thinking the “next” thing will bring us more contentment, but it won’t.  We should realize that by now.  A contentment that cannot be experienced in the midst of the situation we currently find ourselves living in is just a false peace.  True contentment can withstand the depressions, sorrows, and tragedies of life.  It can withstand broken dreams and broken promises.  It is immune from outside influences.  It is found living in the presence of God.  Living, not just dwelling.  There is a big difference.

The goal of spiritual growth is to live all of our moments in Jesus.  In our resting we will dwell on Him, His works, and His will.  In our working, we will and look for opportunities to serve others and bring about His will.  Everything we do, when we are living in Him, will be about doing His will to the best of our abilities.  Then we can rest assured that the outcome of all of our actions is in His hands.  We are only responsible for being faithful and doing our part.  This frees us from the stress of the outcomes, which allows us to live our lives in God’s will as if we are already victor.  Let Him worry about the results.  He’s God; He can handle that.

May you grow in Jesus to the point where you are living in Him during your resting and your working.  May you find the contentment that God designed you to experience.