I feel a rant coming on....

And I have a fever so this could be a foggy confused rant.  Stick with me.

We just read the story of the Good Samaritan this week in the One Year Bible reading and it so fits what has been rolling around in my heart for weeks really.  You see, I've been challenged (I know I know I've pointed that out before) in every area of what we do and why we do it..not just "ministry" but like the every day stuff.  And I keep coming across stuff that needs thinking through.  And even though I may be just writing this into cyberspace for no one to read, this is where I am trying to think things out.

This latest challenge has been living in community.  To live in community is a major buzz word/phrase in Christian circles these days.  From what I have seen, every church has a different interpretation of this seemingly simple vocabulary word.
 Some churches embrace it with an incredible fervor and seem to cancel all Bibles studies always and just meet to hang out with each other and talk.
Some churches are so scared to become the churches that forsake Bible studies that they steer WAY clear of it and pretend that only people who want to use liberty as a vice are interested in living in community, so dont bug me about a home group cause I dont do home groups settings.
Some churches are so into reaching out to the community around you that you can feel guilty if you sit next to a friend for services or meet up with a friend for coffee instead of spending all your time reaching out to the lost.

And then some really beautiful churches have a sweet grasp of the concept and spend time getting into the meat of the word and growing in their knowledge of His character while being sure to never neglect that Jesus made us for relationship and we will grow and be bolstered in our faith and our growth as we live life together.  These same churches have an emphasis on reaching out to the lost but also on growing friendships within the church body that will keep you fired up, accountable, and growing.

As we have stepped outside of things and been kind of "on our own" for the past 7 months, it has afforded us an outsiders view and I am so very thankful to have been given it.  The first thing I want to say is that we have spent the last seven months figuring out that we don't know a SINGLE thing.  Everything we thought we knew, yeah, we don't.  I mean, we're saved.  Barely ha! But seriously apart from the finished work of Jesus Christ, I am sure of nothing.  Well, nothing in ministry anyway.  What is ministry anyway?  That's my whole deal with the Good Samaritan.  Go read the story.  It's nutty to me that the supposedly "holy" people passed this bro by!  And mostly because touching him would have kept them from being able to do the things that they considered to be "holy" work.  LAME SAUCE!!!!!!  Which one of these dudes "lived in community" with that broken beat up man?  A Samaritan.  Which is nutty in and of itself really, but lets skip that part for a second.  Let's focus on the fact that this Samaritan walking down the road was not considered "holy" and wouldn't have been looked at twice by the hypocrites down at the temple....BUT HE DID THE MOST SWEET SERVICE TO THIS MAN!  He gave of his time and his money and was committed to checking back on this bro until he was better.  There was a commitment involved!  Community involves commitment!!!!!!!When we truly live in a community with one another, like a family, there is relationship, and there is love, and sometimes it gets messy and we treat each other like dirt but we are committed to one another.  We don't give up on each other just because we are wronged or it is hard.  We talk through things that could cause division and we FIGHT for and purposefully PURSUE unity because it won't just happen.  I feel like thats what Jesus was saying in this story.  We aren't each others neighbor if we are running off to do the jobs that we think are the holy jobs!  I know this awesome couple and most of the christian world might not think much of what they do.  They aren't "in the ministry."  He is a truck driver, not a pastor.  But dude! It totally irks me to no end that someone could look at being behind a pulpit as more holy than a bro driving his truck for Jesus.  I mean, people are getting to hear the gospel in truck stops from a guy whose joy for Jesus is just plain evident from the moment you meet him.  And people are getting SAVED!  Like, in truck stops!  And because this guy isn't a "pastor" of a certain church, he is just sharing the plain truth from the word without any agenda or doctrinal immediacies lined in there.  Jesus.  The word.  The END.  And I think its beautiful.  His wife may not be a "pastors wife" in title, but man she girds up her hubs.  She prays for him and for all the leaders in her church on a regular basis from a heart that goes so much deeper than please bless this and take care of that help this person to get a job.....like fervent BEAUTIFUL prayers flow from this woman.  Man!  That is the stuff of the Holy of Holies right there!

And yet we as a culture have this tendency to make classes of christians.  1st class 2nd class. To see the pastors and staff at a church as a holy and high calling and we demean those who aren't.  It's created this culture of christians that feels like hey if I am super amped on Jesus then I need to A. be a pastor; B. be a youth pastor; or C. lead the worship band.  NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes those things are good things.  If you're called to do those specific things I am not even trying to demean you.  But if you're called to be a stay at home homeschool mom....you're called to the ministry.  If you're called to work at the bank.....you're called to the ministry!  If you're called to drive a truck full of gas over the Rocky Mountains, YOU ARE CALLED TO THE MINISTRY.  Whatever you are doing for Jesus IS a holy calling!

As I have been thinking about this and talking with Christian and listening to things, I had one of those aha moments.  Two main problems happen that I see (at this point anyway) (and who am I really ha!) Number one, we demean those who aren't as "holy" AND/OR we despise the day of small things because its not the "big" work that we think we should be doing for Jesus.  NO WAY!  If we tell ourselves that working at a coffee shop or a grocery store or staying home with our kids is small stuff, we are telling others that their stuff is small stuff.  And if we are all thinking its small stuff, we wont put ourselves into it with abandon.  We just won't.  So we begin to neglect the gifts within us while we wait to either feel holy enough to use them or be in a holy enough position to use them. BOO on that.  A healthy church body is one where people are all using their gifts and no one cares who gets the credit and every one is just rocking it for Jesus.  At least i think thats a healthy church body.  That would probably be hard to come by.
The second problem I see is that in creating these classes of christians and these classes of holiness in callings, we have effectually placed our pastors inside of these ivory towers.  They feel so much pressure to perform and be as holy as everyone thinks they are and theres no place to just be a part of the body.  And how can a "pastor" stay healthy when he is cut off???  Like really think about it. How can a pastor be ministered to if he cant be a real human with real struggles?  I think some churches allow their pastors to have an occasional struggle with something small.  Like not taking enough time to rest or maybe occasionally getting frustrated with his kids.  But are we elevating our pastors to such a high degree that they cant say hey my marriage is struggling, or I'm fighting some real bitterness toward this guy.  Can a pastor do that and not lose the respect of his congregation?  Because these ivory towers that we place pastors in leave them lonely and isolated and cut off from being ministered to by the body and so it can lead to disaster.  Sorry.  that is a side rant.

But back to my main point....how do we live in community?  By getting over ourselves.  By being committed to each others well being.  By setting aside titles and aspirations and saying every single morning Jesus what do you have for me today?  By setting aside anything i have said that doesn't resonate with the heart of Jesus.  Basically, I am learning that there is such beauty in being completely behind the scenes.  I feel like I did in high school.  I tried out for the school musical.  I know.  I had a drama geek phase.  Sue me.  Anyway, I could dance, but sing, not so much.  Sooooooo, they put me on crew.  AKA, your singing stinks so bad, please dress in black and stay back there.  If you come out, be quiet, and be as invisible as possible.  But ya know what I learned.  It was a blast.  I knew I couldn't sing. I tried out cause all my friends were trying out (and yes, if they ended the day bridge jumping I probably would've gone too) but it wasn't a bummer.  I had so much fun.  I was part of the team.  Without me, the chick in her cute curls and heels would've looked ridiculous moving an entire set.  We each had our jobs and we all had a blast seeing it get done.  Thats what I think Jesus is teaching us right now.  Be a good neighbor, however that looks.  Im learning to strip aside the titles and expectations others have on me and the expectations that I have on them.  And I kind of love being on crew for Jesus.

P.s. I think spring is finally here!  And just so you know, you CAN get a sunburn in 50 degree weather if you live at high elevation...theres going to be a sunscreen learning curve around here :)