Move Us

A sculptor was looking up at the beautiful Venus statue in the Louvre museum, with tears running down his face. Someone walked by and said, "Don't you like this statue?" and the man said, "Yes I do, but what is the point of all that beauty when it is marred by such impotence? She has no hands."

Sadly the church en masse today can identify. The church is beautiful: a rag-tag motley bunch of fools and beggars that have been summoned and pardoned by the King, given new life, hope, an inheritance, and a future marked with rich rewards and boundless promises. What once was wretched is now glorious and attractive. But what is the point of all that beauty when we are marred by impotence, with no hands to reach out to a dying world?

Casting Crowns became a Christian household name after writing their controversial and convicting song, "If We are the Body", challenging Christ-followers to use our hands and feet to reach out and affect change in this broken and fallen world. Most of us liked the beat to that song but ignored the message intended in it. It's hard enough reaching across the aisle to offer an obligatory handshake and half-smile, let alone across a generational, socio-economic, or racial divide in our city!

Art enthusiasts who frequent the Louvre all come across the statue of Venus, and a nagging question attacks the forefront of their mind: what happened to her hands? If the church will not be on mission the way Jesus was, the same thing will be asked about us. Israel was disqualified because they grew damningly comfortable in their salvation, no longer being heralds with good news to those around them. Is it any different with us? If God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Move us across the aisle, across the street, across the county, across the world, across the fear and discrimination and poverty and injustice and suffering and emptiness and sorrow. God, move Your people, please.
-Pilgrim

What Does Legacy Look Like?

If you were to be singled out for a new reality television show called, “Leaving a Legacy”, where video crews followed you around 24/7 to capture your life on video, so that your kids, or the next generation, could follow in your footsteps, would you hesitate? Would there be any area of your life, whether word, thought, or deed, that you would be embarrassed to have displayed for all the world to see?

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”. In context Paul was asking the ‘spiritually free’ Corinthians to imitate his lifestyle in reference to others in the body that were watching and had the potential of stumbling over something they saw in another Christian’s life. We all learned a game in school called, “Follow the Leader”. Someone would get chosen to be the ‘leader’, and would then do a series of hand gestures or facial expressions, or physical exercises, and everyone else in the class would mimic exactly what that person did, down to the detail. Paul says that in the exact same way, believers should have someone to look up to model their behavior and lifestyles after.

Recently I asked the middle school students to list one person that they would like to be like when they grow up. This would be the one person who they look up to more than anyone else, doing whatever they had to do to imitate their lifestyle and behavior. I was somewhat shocked by the results. Many of them put a father or mother, a sister or brother, a grandfather or uncle or other family member, which was completely encouraging! A few put the name of one of the youth leaders, which made me proud, even though my own name didn’t make the list:)! A majority of them put pop icons, including Lil Wayne, a rapper on the top of the charts with questionable lyrics, which was a little discouraging! But a few listed names of people in this fellowship that they weren’t even related to. That surprised me.

When Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, “…the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others”, he was writing to the one who had already been entrusted by Paul (1:13-14). Paul was expecting the pattern of discipleship to continue with Timothy to others. Are you obeying the command of Jesus to make disciples? To whom are you saying, “follow me as I follow Christ”? As Pastor Carl has taught us, the legacy we are leaving behind is the life we are living today. There may never be a reality show with your life displayed on camera, but your life is certainly being displayed to your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, children, and the young people in this church. Leave a legacy that will make an impact in eternity!

-Pilgrim