Burning in my Bones

September 15, 2008 – 8:30 am

The title is familiar to Bible readers. It is taken from Jeremiah chapter 20, verse 9. Jeremiah evaluated the alternative to not speaking of God, the God of Israel, Yahweh. Jeremiah concluded, "But if I say, "I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it."

 

I have my own burning bones. It is the matter of the church being the church. My spirit has become very restless and a certain Bible passage keeps whispering in my ears, or more like whispering in my heart.

 

I just completed my Master’s studies in leadership. My major project centered around the same issue so this nagging has been really alive for me since 2006. Here’s the passage:

 ¹⁸Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  (Matthew chapter 28, verses 18-20, New Living Translation)

 

The problem is, I’m not convinced we have the stomach to make the Commission happen. We talk the talk; we seem to be really interested. What we don’t seem to understand is the change that is inevitable to live the dream and most of us cannot accept change. I noticed on Facebook there is an effort to have people join the 5,000,000 people club who want the old Facebook back. Are we really ready for change in significant ways when it’s hard for us to change houses, move to other cities or adapt to new schools and jobs or even get use to "doing church" differently? Some change is inconsequential while other changes are life-altering. We can be sure that to get serious about being disciples of Jesus and disciping others toward Jesus, it falls in the category of mega, life-altering change.

 

I conclude with an exerpt from my major project. 

"At this juncture of my life journey, I am moving toward a quarter of a century as a pastor. I see repeated cases of congregational churches struggling to contextualize their faith with cultural relevance. They hold most religious organizations suspect as self-serving and do not believe they have much to offer with life’s challenges and circumstance. It is crucial that the church reemphasize its value in the mainstream 21^st century fluid world. The church needs to awaken to the realization it has something very significant to offer people facing personal crisis, national threats and shifting values. For this to materialize, the Church needs to evaluate its history where it can learn invaluable lessons and be aggressive in becoming the church of today that communities need.

"The Church must understand its value and place in the 21^st century. The problem is not that the Church does not have a place in society. Society needs the Church more than ever in its history because of a barrage of options and half-truths or diluted truths offered on the buffet table of religious plurality. The problem is the Church’s struggle to be relevant, and failure to understand how to be relevant. The Church also struggles with will power. We say we desire to see people changed by the gospel but cannot seem to get past the desire to practice and exercise the will to adapt to see change come about. We often say we want people to know Christ and join our churches. When we take the test, we find we are far too complacent at the expense and risk of ‘corrupting’ the ‘holy cows’ we clutch tightly."

 As I leave these words with you, search your heart and determine if you can handle the truth.

 

Are you ready to take the dive?

 

 I am.