enjoy the ride
Remember the Smurfs? They were the kind of creepy blue creatures who measure just three apples high who live in Mushrooms, in Smurf Village. Some accused these little things of being Satanic, and sent hate mail to their Belgian creator because of the character Gargamel and his cat Azrael.
There were famous lines and quotes that came from the fictional characters, one that comes to mind was the one often asked of Papa Smurf, “Are we there yet Papa Smurf?” This question came from the mouth of a weary Smurf on behalf of his troop of traveling companions. Papa Smurf would often answer in a comforting tone by saying, “Not much farther now my little Smurfs.”
This question, regarding destination, has become one that is on the lips of many people in the church today. (It goes without saying that we are not imitating the Smurfs, for they are Satanic, remember?) We want to know what the end is. In other words, “What is the bottom line?” We have stopped enjoying the journey and only fix on the destination.
One of the most depressing trips I ever took was driving across Western Illinois, Iowa, and Nerbraska with a Garmin Satellite Navigation System. No matter how far I drove, the line representing the road remained straight, and the destination seemed no closer. My fixation on this three inch screen prevented me from enjoying the drive. I do realize that driving across a flat, vast, treeless expanse is difficult to enjoy, but you get the point.
This, however, has happened more and more beyond a drive through the plains with a Garmin. We are always interested in there, and not getting there. Consider the way some churches have set up there structure to get people to their destination.
When one joins a faith community, they are thrust into a system that takes them from a "pagan" to a clean-cut, born-again, Bible speakin’, Jesus thinkin’, Bible believin’ Christian, complete with a subtle southern accent. So we have anywhere between one and five steps that people are to go through. The focus in all the steps are getting them through the first set of steps to step five. Once they are there, they are good to go, they “get it”, and they can begin helping get more "pagans" to be stage fivers.
It is so easy to have a place where people should end up. In this however, we are creating a type of person, and not leading all men and women to live out exactly who it is God has called them to be. We can systematize discipleship, and throw easy answers (or directions) that guide all people to the same place, regardless of their point of origin.
This whole idea seems odd. If this system is really how we are supposed to do things, then in many ways Jesus died and ascended too early. I have no idea where his disciples were at with regard to levels one through five, but consider the evidence. One betrayed him and then killed himself, one denied him and then wept bitterly, one doubted him, the rest abandoned him, and when he rose from the dead none of them got it. They could have been no better than second level. Yet, Jesus tells them to change the world.
Maybe, however, Jesus was more concerned with direction and movement in general than destination. Can we really have a standard for where everyone should go? Or can we recognize that in following Jesus there will be times of rapid growth and slow growth, differing directions, different expressions, and continual growth. What if there is no actual destination, but a continued journey deeper and deeper into the eternal, boundless, infinite person of God and his love?
This frustrates us, because we cannot measure it. We cannot say, “Not much farther …” because we know the journal is eternal. We are even tempted to say, “We will know this or that when we get to heaven.” Really? Maybe the beauty of heaven is that we will finally recognize that we are far away from having anything figured out. Maybe this is why we will finally understand what it means to worship.
Rather than asking God when we will get there, we will finally spend an eternity enjoying the beauty of our journey. If we do ask him if we are there, we may just hear him say, “We are not even close, my children.”
There were famous lines and quotes that came from the fictional characters, one that comes to mind was the one often asked of Papa Smurf, “Are we there yet Papa Smurf?” This question came from the mouth of a weary Smurf on behalf of his troop of traveling companions. Papa Smurf would often answer in a comforting tone by saying, “Not much farther now my little Smurfs.”
This question, regarding destination, has become one that is on the lips of many people in the church today. (It goes without saying that we are not imitating the Smurfs, for they are Satanic, remember?) We want to know what the end is. In other words, “What is the bottom line?” We have stopped enjoying the journey and only fix on the destination.
One of the most depressing trips I ever took was driving across Western Illinois, Iowa, and Nerbraska with a Garmin Satellite Navigation System. No matter how far I drove, the line representing the road remained straight, and the destination seemed no closer. My fixation on this three inch screen prevented me from enjoying the drive. I do realize that driving across a flat, vast, treeless expanse is difficult to enjoy, but you get the point.
This, however, has happened more and more beyond a drive through the plains with a Garmin. We are always interested in there, and not getting there. Consider the way some churches have set up there structure to get people to their destination.
When one joins a faith community, they are thrust into a system that takes them from a "pagan" to a clean-cut, born-again, Bible speakin’, Jesus thinkin’, Bible believin’ Christian, complete with a subtle southern accent. So we have anywhere between one and five steps that people are to go through. The focus in all the steps are getting them through the first set of steps to step five. Once they are there, they are good to go, they “get it”, and they can begin helping get more "pagans" to be stage fivers.
It is so easy to have a place where people should end up. In this however, we are creating a type of person, and not leading all men and women to live out exactly who it is God has called them to be. We can systematize discipleship, and throw easy answers (or directions) that guide all people to the same place, regardless of their point of origin.
This whole idea seems odd. If this system is really how we are supposed to do things, then in many ways Jesus died and ascended too early. I have no idea where his disciples were at with regard to levels one through five, but consider the evidence. One betrayed him and then killed himself, one denied him and then wept bitterly, one doubted him, the rest abandoned him, and when he rose from the dead none of them got it. They could have been no better than second level. Yet, Jesus tells them to change the world.
Maybe, however, Jesus was more concerned with direction and movement in general than destination. Can we really have a standard for where everyone should go? Or can we recognize that in following Jesus there will be times of rapid growth and slow growth, differing directions, different expressions, and continual growth. What if there is no actual destination, but a continued journey deeper and deeper into the eternal, boundless, infinite person of God and his love?
This frustrates us, because we cannot measure it. We cannot say, “Not much farther …” because we know the journal is eternal. We are even tempted to say, “We will know this or that when we get to heaven.” Really? Maybe the beauty of heaven is that we will finally recognize that we are far away from having anything figured out. Maybe this is why we will finally understand what it means to worship.
Rather than asking God when we will get there, we will finally spend an eternity enjoying the beauty of our journey. If we do ask him if we are there, we may just hear him say, “We are not even close, my children.”