Focus
Lately I’ve been thinking about the concept of “focus.”
In my job, I’ve largely come to the conclusion that I’m paid to focus. I have skills that I’ve learned over time, sure. But at the end of the day most of those skills can be taught to someone else. Really I’m paid to make sure that someone pays attention to the particular part of my company that I’ve been assigned to watch.
In your job, I’m sure you’re paid to focus as well. You might have a different kind of focus than my job requires, a different emphasis or skill set, but I’m guessing your job wants you to stay focused on whatever it is you’re put in charge of. Because of the different pressures on the economy, anything that can be automated will. That leaves focus (and creativity, which requires a particular kind of focus) as one of the main assets we have in the workforce.
But focus isn’t just a topic to discuss in business or economics. The battle for our focus is happening all around us. If you think about it, in the West we have less menial tasks than ever before. You would think that would mean we have more ability to focus on things that are important. But with a decrease of of menial tasks brought on by technology, we actually have an increase of new things competing for our attention. There are countless blogs, podcasts, radio stations- the list goes on. It’s counter-intuitive, but the progress that in theory has given us more time to focus has also given us more to focus on.
Nowhere is this more true than our walks with the Lord. More than ever, technology that makes our lives easier (and I’m mainly talking about our smart phones here) also distracts us more from spending time with Jesus. It’s now easier than ever to be reading your Bible (Youversion, anyone?) and flip over to Facebook real quick to see how many likes you’re getting.
This is dangerous because we become what we focus on. The Apostle John tells us when Jesus appears we will become like Him because we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). Jesus tells us the pure in heart (those that focus on purity) will see God (Matthew 5:8). David tells us in the Psalms that the one who looks to God as a deliverer becomes radiant (Psalm 34:5). I could go on. You become like what you are giving attention to.
That said, are you becoming more and more like our culture? Or are you becoming radiant like God is?
The difference, my friends, might be in what you’re focusing on.
Maybe it’s time for a new focus.
Photo Credit: Focus* by Michael Dales
* I did crop a few things. 😉
Evangelism in an Upside Down Kingdom
20 years ago a young, awkward, lanky teenager gave his life to Jesus. Without much direction or personal instruction, he consumed whatever material he could afford to buy out of his charismatic church’s bookstore. In the bookstore he found what looked to be a twenty year old copy of a book containing dreams and visions by a prophet named Rick Joyner. The book would affect the lanky teenager in profound ways by imparting a desire to know God and become more like Christ.
That lanky teenager, if you haven’t figured it out yet, was me. The book was actually only written two years previous. (In my defense, two years seemed like a long time back then.) 
It was called “The Final Quest.” In many ways the theme was very similar to “The Pilgrim’s Progress” in that Rick was expounding on deep truths of the Christian life as he progressed in an allegory portrayed as a physical journey.
The book starts out as a horrible army of demons are attacking Christians and Rick has to climb a mountain (“The Mountain of the Lord”), first for safety, but then as he begins to understand each level of mountain represents a different stage of maturity, out of a desire to know Christ more. As he climbs higher up the mountain he becomes more mature and more effective in the battle against the demonic forces.
Lately, the following section has been on my mind. In this stage of the vision, he is being lead up and down the Mountain of the Lord by the personification of Wisdom, aptly named “Wisdom.”
Wisdom led me down the mountain to the very lowest level, which was named ‘Salvation.’ ‘You think that this is the lowest level,’ declared Wisdom, ‘but this is the foundation of the whole mountain. In any journey, the first step is the most important and it is usually the most difficult. Without ‘Salvation’ there would be no mountain.’
I was appalled by the carnage on this level. Every soldier was very badly wounded, but none of them were dead. Multitudes were barely clinging to the edge. Many seemed ready to fall off, but none did. Angels were everywhere ministering to the soldiers with such great joy that I had to ask, ‘Why are they so happy?’
‘These angels have beheld the courage that it took for these to hold on. They may not have gone any further, but neither did they give up. They will soon be healed, and then they will behold the glory of the rest of the mountain, and they will begin to climb. These will be great warriors for the battle to come.’
‘But wouldn’t they have been better off to climb the mountain with the rest of us?’ I protested, seeing their present condition.
‘It would have been better for them, but not for you. By staying here they made it easier for you to climb by keeping most of your enemies occupied. Very few from the higher levels ever reached out to help others come to the mountain, but these did. Even when these were barely clinging to the mountain themselves, they would reach out to pull others up. In fact, most of the mighty warriors were led to the mountain by these faithful ones. These are no less heroes than those who have made it to the top. They have brought great joy to heaven by leading others to Salvation…
Again I felt shame for my previous attitude toward these great saints. Many of us had scorned them as we had climbed to the higher levels. They had made many mistakes during the battle, but they had also displayed more of the Shepherd’s heart than the rest of us. The Lord would leave the ninety-nine to go after the one who was lost. These had stayed in the place where they could still reach the lost, and they paid a dear price for it….
(The Final Quest*, Rick Joyner, pp. 51-53)
My point in retelling this part of the story is this: In some parts of the church, those who reach out to the lost, the broken, and the hurting are seen as less spiritual. Often they are perceived as a mile wide but an inch deep. In order to relate to the lost and the broken, the evangelists among us chose a different path than the cloistered life that supposedly produces maturity. And while we desperately need people coming to Jesus in this hour, our attitude towards those who can and do lead people to Jesus is often one of disdain for their lack of depth.
But Jesus thinks differently than we do. We live in an upside-down Kingdom. What that means is that things that seem very important to us now (money, popularity, worldly success) mean very little to God and the things that mean much to God (humility, honor, self-sacrificing love) mean very little to men. God’s Kingdom is upside down compared to ours. To be specific to our context, Jesus says, “But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then,” (Mark 10:31).
The church teaches us that the mega-church pastor, the preacher on a book tour, and the ascetic are all important and spiritual. But in this upside-down Kingdom, those that live lives near the broken to bring them to salvation are honored. They bear the price of relating to the brokeness of humanity and remaining close enough to the lost to be able to communicate the Gospel. Because of this, they may never write a book or draw a huge crowd, but they have God’s attention.
I write all this, not just so we appreciate evangelists more. That’s a good start. But I also write it so that we consider, very seriously, the idea that God may value an earthy, more mission minded version of Christianity than many think. Maybe according to the upside-down values of the Kingdom, Jesus assigns honor to those who make it their aim to live among and lead lost souls to the Mountain of the Lord. And if this the case, maybe we should make it more of our aim to be like those guys, and less like the mega church pastor, the writer, or ascetic. Maybe part of our journey into maturity is to become more like your lost co-worker and less like a monk, all for the purpose of reaching him and helping him know Jesus. Maybe instead of avoiding the world, we embrace it with the love of Christ and let that love transform us into more of who He is.
If we live in an upside-down Kingdom, I think it might be more important than we realize.
Photo Credit**: Un nuevo visitante llega al castillo by Oscar Gende Villar
*It probably goes without saying, but I do not consider the revelation contained within the Final Quest to have anywhere near the level of authority of Scripture. I believe Scripture is a far more reliable witness than any personal revelation and I quote this section as springboard for conversation.
** Also note that this photography was altered from its original version: A duck was cropped out and the picture was flipped upside down.
Reason #1 We Started a House Church
In my head, whenever I have a lot of reasons for something or facts that I apply to a subject, I start numbering them. But I don’t number them really well. Whenever I use one, I assign a totally random and arbitrary number to emphasize the fact that I have a bunch of reasons or facts and this is just one of many. One example is my “Rules of Parenting.” I can’t tell you how many I actually have, but the next time I bring one up, you can be sure it will be “Travis’ Rules of Parenting #867.”
Yesterday I found another group of reasons that I could number in a similar fashion: the reasons my friends and I meet as house churches instead of as a traditional congregation. And while I could probably continue to make up non-sensical numbers, I thought it might be helpful for me to truly number the reasons we do house churches in order to see how many there actually are. My hope is after a year or so of writing to have 20 or more of these that I can point people to when they begin asking me questions about house churches.
So, with no further ado, Reason #1
I was sitting at McDonald’s with the guys in my 2&3. We had basically just finished up and were about to leave when our new friend Ahmed* came up and started talking to us. We met Ahmed last week and he told us his story of his life and his journey to Christ. Ahmed also told us he was homeless. We had asked Ahmed if we could help in any way and he told us he had it taken care of.
This week, however, things had changed for Ahmed. Without going into a ton of details, he had a misunderstanding that led to falling out with his homeless shelter. I had learned previously that Ahmed was part of a church, so I asked him if his church had helped him. He gave me a legitimate reason that they had in the past but weren’t now. But the next thing he said was difficult. “I understand why they can’t always help me out. They have expenses that they need to take care of.”
My friend and I looked at each other and smiled. It was the knowing smile of two people who knew that buildings and salaries weren’t more important than the homeless follower of Jesus trying to put his life back together. Ahmed caught our quick interchange and we explained to him that we might have thought differently about his situation than he did.
And so my friends, Reason #1 why we meet as house churches is we don’t want to put buildings and salaries ahead of the legitimate needs of others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need. Foregoing the building and the salary has helped us to never really need to be concerned about “the bottom line” of our churches when we step out to help others. Many might say they are able to do this as well with a building or salary that they need to pay. I rejoice in this fact! But I also know of many places who have had to make these hard choices and I’m not envious of that position at all.
Reason #1 has a name. Ahmed and the 10 or 15 others like him that we’ve been able to help is why we meet as house churches.
Side note: Please pray for my friend Ahmed. I believe him to be a sincere man trying to put his life back together but is in a tough spot. And pray for him to become a faithful witness of Christ in places many of us cannot reach.
Photo Credit: [Becoming.Number.One♥] by A♥
*It may go without saying, but Ahmed’s name has been changed to protect his privacy.
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 