One of the everyday miracles that I think we often overlook is that God moves in similar ways worldwide. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve been in a book or a certain study and seen certain truths or a message come out that seems so specific to our church or that conversation at that moment and then a day or two later in conversation with someone else somewhere else they talk about the same exact thing at the same exact time with some of the same insight. I don’t know what the odds would be on something like that, but it’s not as if there is a mass email to all pastors or Christians telling them what to preach on a Sunday morning or what to think over coffee together or while reading the Bible alone in the morning. It’s not as if there is a notebook or best practices guide on spiritual epiphany that we all read. The only way I can explain this is that God has a message for His people and He tends to tell it; we need only listen.
I’m not sure why that’s on my heart this morning but when I sat down to shoot Josh a few words for an email that’s what popped into my head.
God has a specific message for you, and he’s probably saying it all the time. But He doesn’t say it like we do when we want to be heard. He doesn’t nag or scream and shout desperate for someone to hear us. He doesn’t VagueBook or use passive-aggressive comments. Often He whispers, He speaks through an experience you’re having or a person you’re sitting in front of. The way He speaks is heard by those who choose to be close to Him. But it takes time, quiet, and practice really. It takes getting to know His voice and being able to tune in to His nuances just like we become tuned in to each other’s attitudes or humor, moods, or moments where we are saying much without saying anything at all.
I encourage you to take a deep breath and a step back, literally and figuratively, and just be determined to listen. Don’t worry about being an expert at being a Christian or reading your Bible or praying. Wanting to start off as an expert is the best way to kill the momentum of starting anything. Just be determined to be the best friend and follower of Jesus you can be. Knowing that He came and lived the human life like you are, saw and dealt with the pain and the complications of humanity on this earth like you do, and died so that His sacrifice would bring about grace that brings you back into relationship with God as existed in the garden of Eden. You’ll never get it perfect, you’ll never get it right, you’ll never be an expert at all the things, but you sure can show up and slow down and value the friendship, the sacrifice, and “savior-ship”, the leadership and shepherding, the Lordship of a loving God.
Christianity is not all about church on a Sunday just as it should be or just as we want it. Christianity is not all about happiness. It’s not all about healing. It’s not all about blessing or not all about behaving. It’s not all about community or belonging. While all of those things are good things, even great things, Christianity is about following a Leader worth following. It’s about knowing a friend worth befriending. It’s about loving a Savior that first loved. It’s about capturing a glimpse of heaven here on earth by deciding to hang around Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So to answer Nathanael’s question in John 1, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?“ I’d say yes. Good can indeed come out of Nazareth, and through that story good can come out of you.
Church we’ve got a Story to tell, and the world sure needs a better one right now. Let’s go tell it.
