Exiles

"Our life-long nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation."- C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"

I've been reading Tim Keller's The Prodigal God over the last week.  Great book.  Keller briefly explores the famous parable of the prodigal son and argues that the older son---the one who was disappointed in his father for taking his younger brother back---was every bit as lost as the younger son.  Both, he says, were ultimately outside the home---one chose to leave and live wildly and the other was so religious that he found himself resisting the father's love.  As Keller spells out this argument, an interesting discussion of exile unfolds.  The Bible is a story of exiles looking for a place to call home.  In Genesis, Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden.  Cain is forced to wander after killing Abel.  Jacob has to flee his home.  Joseph is sent away from his home and family.  The story continues throughout the Old Testament with numerous periods of Israelite exile and oppression.  This story of exile climaxes in the Gospels when the death and resurrection of Christ ultimately opens the door to God's house, a home that all men over all times have been desperately trying to enter---whether they knew it or not.  God's home is the only true and lasting home.

I'm finding this to be true in my own life.  The Lewis quote above hits the nail on the head.  As I get older and enter new phases of my life, I realize that you really can't ever go home again.  Sure, we can continue to remain in the love of our families and friends, visit our childhood home, return to key places and people from our past.  But it really is never the same.  My parents' house will never be the same for me as it was when I was a child.  Roles have changed, life is different.  My closest friends from a couple of years ago, people I talked to every day in Tennessee, are people I chat with once in a great while.  Guys I lived with in college, I have no idea what they are doing or where they are.  Even if I did, that home that was created for two years can never be the same again.  Try visiting your old church a few years after moving on.  Some things will be familiar, but ultimately, you can't recreate what was once there.  I know I'm rambling here, but I hope you are seeing where I'm coming from.  Everything changes so fast, it feels like we are always unsuccessfully trying to grasp "home" before it slips away and things change.  As Alyssa and I work on shaping our life together and our home, it won't be long before things change again.  The kids will grow up and move on.  We may move.  God could call us to new jobs or churches.  Friendships will evolve.  Home is transient and is constantly changing.

Ultimately, this deep desire for a secure and unchanging home is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  That emptiness we feel when things change can only be remedied when we truly rest in Him.  He is our Rock, the same yesterday, today and forever.  I must remember this as I reflect on change.  As we get ready to adopt sweet Kaylee and give her a "home," I cannot forget that the most important home we can give her is a relationship with God.  It is the most secure place that she, or any of us, can ever find ourselves.

Just Like Jesus?

One of my students commented today that people say they want to be like Jesus, but the reality is that they don't. In other words, if people REALLY had to go through the things Jesus went through, they might not be so quick to want to be like him.

This is a topic I've been thinking a lot about lately---what does it mean to be authentically Christian? While I'm still convinced I want to be like Christ, I think I'd better---we'd all better, really---heed his words to count the cost. Jesus repeatedly told whoever would listen that following him would be really hard. They would lose everything. They would be hated by the world. They would have to abandon themselves to find themselves. They might even be killed for his sake---and most of his closest followers were killed, and most in pretty awful ways.  Just because we are distanced by time and space from the culture Jesus lived in, we are not suddenly exempt from the struggles Jesus cautioned would come.  Maybe we aren't facing those struggles because "being a Christian" has become far too easy and comfortable.

I realize I am walking a fine line here.  I don't intend to cross over to a works-based salvation.  We are woefully lost beings outside of Christ's grace and I certainly can't do enough to somehow save myself.  My bad thoughts alone far outweigh my good works.  That alone is enough to send me to hell if I find myself outside of the loving mercy of Jesus.  Yet, Jesus said that those who abide in Him will bear fruit...and those who aren't bearing fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire.  Time and time again he tells us that few will really follow Him and few will find salvation.  In this day and age, we have made salvation as simple as believe and say a prayer and you're in.  I hesitate to argue against that because it is so prevalent in our church culture, but I just don't see that portrait of a Christian painted in the Gospels.  Jesus says being a Christian will cost something.  James tells us that believing is not enough.  Our faith will be shown in our lives, and Jesus makes it clear that those who don't bear fruit aren't in Him.  Maybe that kind of talk makes you uncomfortable.  It's not surprising, considering that it makes me uncomfortable too and I am the one typing the words.  But, I challenge us all to read the Gospels anew and ask the question, "What does following Christ look like according to Christ?"  I would love to hear what picture emerges for you and how that impacts the way you think and live.

Music: Come Awake!