BLINDSIDED!

Have you seen the movie The Blind Side? This is a great movie about a true story. We won’t discuss that it’s about a member of the unspeakable NFL team in the Baltimore area. Rather, I’d like to talk about the idea of a “Blind Side.”

Are you familiar with the term? Your blind side is the place you can’t see. On cars, we call them “blind angles,” that place where the driver cannot see using peripheral vision or rear view mirrors.

Think about a time when something caught you totally off guard. You’re cruising along thru life when all of a sudden, WHAM!!! You’ve been “blindsided”! Do you know what I’m talking about now?

That’s what Sandra Bullock tells Quinton Aaron, playing the part of Michael Oher, that he was made to do… Watch the quarterback’s blind side!

So, tell me about your blind side. What does it look like? If you try to answer me, you’re mistaken. Because that’s the definition of a blind side, the place you can’t see!

How dangerous does a blind side sound to you? Well, scuba divers developed dive masks with side windows to increase their peripheral vision. That’s kinda a nice thing to have if you might encounter something like a shark, right? Add side windows, decrease your blind side. Sounds like a step in the right direction, agreed?

Let me introduce you to the Johari Window. It sounds like an exotic name, but it’s really just a blend of the first names of the developers, Joseph & Harry. The Johari Window is a tool to help you understand yourself better, especially how self-aware you are. Now, some of you are tuning out because this sounds too much like self-help psychology. Hang with me. It’s just a tool!

Everyone’s Johari looks different because it is determined by your own self-awareness and people whom you have invited into your life for accountability. If you are rather dull when it comes to introspection and self-analysis, your self-awareness is low. With good openness to accountability, your blind side can be radically reduced. However, teaming good self-evaluation with accountability, it can nearly be completely eliminated.

OK, now, back to God’s Word. The best way to reduce the likelihood of being blindsided in your Christian walk is a two-pronged approach:

First, it involves Scripture reading and prayerful reflection.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-- he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:23-25

But also, it includes brothers or sisters in the Lord with whom you are doing life together, people who have access to you and with whom you are open about your thoughts and deeds, your struggles and your failures. People with whom you are intimate.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Get Naked!!!

A couple weeks ago, we heard a message from Pastor Scott on Intimacy from the story of Enoch found in Genesis 5. I wanted to take the opportunity of that story to talk a little more about Intimacy.

In the passage, it said that “Enoch walked with God” (vv.22, 24). This is the second time in Genesis where we read about God walking around. Can you guess where the first time is? It’s Genesis 3, the story of the Fall.

It says that Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden during the cool of the day (3:8). The idea behind the Hebrew word for walking (halak), which literally means “walking around” is the idea of “living out one’s life.” We would say “doing life” or, in CONNECT Ministry, “how you roll.” And since Adam and Eve recognized the walking about of the Lord in the garden, it’s pretty clear that walking about with Him was a big part of their life before they met a serpent and an opportunity to doubt God.

Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were described as “both naked and unashamed” (Genesis 2:25). But, once “their eyes were opened” (3:7), they covered and hid themselves in shame. So, life before the Fall could be characterized as walking naked with God.

Fastforward back to Enoch who walked with God. This is the picture of Intimacy that we get from the context of Genesis. The life that was pleasing to the Lord was the one that walked with Him in nakedness. There was nothing coming between Enoch and the Lord. There was nothing to hide. There was openness and transparency.

Now take a look around you. Look at the folks in your church. And the ones in your small group. And the ones in your family. I’m just betting that they are covered. They are covering their shame even as they are covering their nakedness. And I’m willing to bet that they are covering up before the Lord also. These are all signs of the curse!

So, get naked! Start with the Lord. Share your deep, ugly secrets. Open up to Him the dark places in your heart. Will they shock Him? Will they surprise Him? Of course not! He sees them all anyway! And He wants you to bring them before Him. But here’s the really scary part: He wants you to do that in Christian community also. Because you cannot have Intimacy with God and not with His people, the Body of Christ.

Start small, but get real. This is when groups really start to see life transformation. Because, guess what? We all have marks of the Fall in our life. And God has decreed that we would work all that out in redemptive community. So start by uncovering your feet. I bet they’re like mine and could use a cleansing.

Get intimate! Get real! Get naked! And ROLL!!!

On Vacation!

Well, I hope that you didn’t give up on this blog or me over the past month. Many of you already know this, but I took my family back to California for 3 weeks. Yes, a real vacation!

I’m told that’s what you’re supposed to do during the summer. In fact, we are conditioned from the time we enter school as a child to understand that there are certain pauses in the routine. There’s a short one in December that used to be called “Christmas Break;” that’s now “Winter Break.” There’s another short one in March or April that used to be called “Easter Break” but now is “Spring Break.” And the biggie is SUMMER VACATION!

But what happens on vacation when you’re a pastor? Does ministry stop? Does it stop in Lancaster County when I leave? Is it nonexistent wherever I go, visiting my family in CA or Shawna’s in AZ? Can I just turn it off and say, “Hey! I’m on vacation!”

Well, in CA, we reconnected with family and friends and found that ministry opportunities were abundant. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the midst of a marvelous economy where people are losing jobs and homes and healthcare. So we headed to Phoenix over July 4 weekend and guess what? Yep, the same story only a little worse. You see, when money dries up and things go away, you’re left with relationships and if those are awful, maybe you’re noticing how miserable you really are, maybe for the very first time. When the intoxication of things and activities wears off, maybe you realize that you really hate your life. Guess what? Ministry opportunities abound there!

Can you go on vacation from being a Christian? What would that look like? “What happens on vacation, stays on vacation!!!” Hopefully you recognize my rhetorical questions. Hopefully you’re struggling with the concepts here. Because, during the summer, groups tend to go dormant. It’s cultural! We are so programmed to see summer as a time to take a break, and we view group life as a weekly event rather than a lifestyle. Therefore, it makes sense that we should take a break. But what would it look like in your marriage if each summer your husband said, “Wow! I’ve been waiting for this a long time! Thought I’d never make it! Well, see you in 3 months. I’m off to Jamaica, baby!”

Certainly, group life looks radically different in the summer months. But, if we were to be brutally honest, we’d have to admit that we actually have more available time during summer. Days are longer. Kids are out of school. Most school sports take some kind of break.

So what do you say? Maybe you set the studies aside for the break you need. How about getting together for a BBQ or two? You could invite neighbors whom you might want to ask to group or church in the future. Maybe plan a service project, either for this summer or something for the holiday season, if you plan big. Maybe you could dream about what God really wants to do in and with your group.

That’s what my group is going to do now that we’re back home. I’m going to talk Ed into sparking up the fire pit and we’re going to get around the flames and talk about life. We’ll discuss the struggles in our lives. We’ll share hopes, dreams, and prayer requests. We’ll encourage one another with stories of where God has met us most recently. And we’ll discuss how He’s calling us right now to live life to the full.

You see, it’s easy to slip into a life of numbness and routine, to be robbed of good things and to settle for an imitation. But God is calling you to an intentional life of thrills and challenges and ultimately, significance. And don’t you want your life to be about something more than a few weeks under a palm frond umbrella?

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10