It seems to me that the church has missed the boat on the seeker-friendly movement. The world is not seeking the church; to affirm this turns the Bible’s theology and anthropology upside down and denies the explicit teaching of our Savior. God is the only seeker of the lost; none seek him - him, the true God, not a God of man’s imagination, feeling, or longing. And man’s seeking of the idols of his heart is not a stepping stone to seeking the true God.
After a week of economic turbulence, I am quite comforted in the knowledge that my mother in Washington D.C. is guaranteeing the soundness of my investments and bailing out institutions that would otherwise fail. The reality, of course, is that you and I, the American people, are part of a financial scam.
All is not quiet on the western front. In fact, the west no longer has a front. Whether one surveys the once-proud citadel of western culture or the battlefield outside the gates, the scene is bleak. Short of a miracle of biblical proportions, I do not think there will be a dawn.
A lie has settled over our society like the pallor of approaching death, a lie of such proportions that it is doubtful whether we shall recover. It is not a political conspiracy, economic fraud, or evolutionary myth. If only the roots of this lie were as easy to expose and pull up. This lie makes fools of parents, exposes preachers as cowards and frauds, and sounds the stroke of doom upon our social institutions. Remarkably, no attempt is made to conceal this lie. Those who utter it do so quite brazenly.
The kindnesses cascade through my mind like a mountain stream. I remember my sweet, first-grade teacher giving me a hug for reading a story well. Mrs. Cornelius, my old and stooped fifth grade teacher, stood up to me, kept me in from recess, and told me in her raspy voice that if I would not talk so much, I might learn more. There was an old blind woman in a nursing home we occasionally visited, Mrs. Daniels, who always welcomed us into her room with a smile, a song, and a story. I can hear the ball swoosh through the net on the basketball court my father built for me one summer.
I learned my first lessons about my heavenly Father from my earthly father. He was affectionate, willing to give and receive physical love. He provided, working odd jobs like cutting grass and loading delivery trucks in order to supplement his often-meager income. He was engaged: talking, laughing, going to our school and sporting events, and loving Christmas gifts. He was patient, sometimes waiting until his anger or frustration had sufficiently subsided before applying the rod of correction.
The colorful signs announcing children’s summer programs are springing up. With titles like, "Adventure Island" and "The Great Quest," children are sure to have a variety of fun-filled options. I am appreciative of the concern that churches demonstrate toward their younger members. Our Savior said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to them, and we should do all we can to present the glory and power of that kingdom to their hearts and minds.
Everyone wants answers, solutions to the myriads of political, economic, domestic, and foreign conundrums that each day sap a little more of our lingering life. My guess is that whoever shouts "I can change things" the loudest and with the whitest smile will gain political power later this year. The masses do not think, of course, they feel, and this virtually assures that the candidate who says the least the most attractively will win. Christians, of course, acutely feel the tumult.
I often recognize myself in those unnamed miserables with whom Jesus came into contact in his earthly ministry: the blind, the lepers, the lame, the prostitutes, and the otherwise socially outcast. In each of these encounters, I see my fallen condition portrayed: sick, filthy, helpless, despairing, hopeless, with inner contagion producing a host of diseases. From the Gospels, we learn that Jesus constantly interacted with the dregs of society.
Many Scriptures instruct us to think of heaven, to live in terms of heaven, to make heaven our earthly pursuit as much as our eternal goal. A few choice morsels come to mind. "Our citizenship is in heaven." "Set your mind on things above." "To depart and be with Christ is better by far." These are the realities, exhortations, and aspirations of our faith. We want very much to depart and be with Christ. The little Scripture says of heaven serves to intensify rather than to satisfy our desire to know more about heaven and even more to be in heaven.
