Of late, I have had more 'guy time' than at any point over the last year or so! For a long time, my primary social interaction has been almost exclusively with women . This was not on purpose or for any reason other than with my limited social time available, I wanted to be intentional about connecting with the women in my life.
This time has been amazingly fulfilling, I know 'my ladies' better than I imagined and I love the relationships that have blossomed as a result. What I didn't realize was how much I have missed doing 'guy stuff'-watching hockey, football, playing games and just goofing around. Guys have this amazing ability to just 'be', and share the moment. Women tend to have plans and agendas - not in a bad way, just goals and points they feel like they need to address for a time to be 'productive'. I have always enjoyed adventure and games and sports. Getting together on a sunny Sunday afternoon to play volleyball is my idea of a GREAT time. This time I have been spending with guys has re-ignited in me a desire for adventure! As well, I have been reading "Wild at Heart" in an attempt to improve my relationships with the men in my life (brother, father, pastors, co-workers, friends). I always want them to be at their best, and I know that how I interact with them can influence that a lot. Wild at Heart is an amazing book by John Elderidge about how God designed men and the things that the enemy does in order to cripple their hearts into accepting a life without adventure.
This has reignited my desire for adventure, to seek out a purposeful existence that might seem to push the envelope of reason, or ‘security’-but isn’t that what Jesus was all about?
This immersion of all things ‘guy’ has changed my perspective on Jesus. The other night, we got chatting about The DaVinci Code. In the course of conversation, the word scandalous came up. I had a realization. Jesus lived a scandalous life- not scandalous like Enron, or “Jude Law with the Nanny” but scandalous none the less.
Dictionary.com defines scandal as:
a disgraceful or discreditable action, circumstance, etc.
an offense caused by a fault or misdeed.
damage to reputation; public disgrace.
Think of this, for thousands of years, the Jewish people had lived according to a certain way. They were, in Jesus’ time, a people living under occupation; this meant that they were subject to a foreign rule that just barely tolerated the Jewish lifestyle and faith. His birth was shrouded in scandal, everyone knew who He was, and then He began to preach!
He healed on the Sabbath, questioned the Pharisees, reached out to the Leper, spoke to the ‘unclean’ Samaritan woman living in sin, protected the adulteress, disrupted the temple, questioned traditions, and called the fishermen! We are familiar with all these stories, and we tell them like trite children’s tales, focusing on the lesson rather than the action.
Think of it this way….. What if someone stormed CNN’s studios, and began to expose the lies that this culture has pounded into our minds and hearts? “Debt is normal”, “the world exists for my benefit”, “I deserve to be happy”, “Sexual preference is not a choice”. What if churches began to pay off people’s debt and then trained them to stay out of that debt? What if our churches truly became a hospital for the sick of heart? It would cause a stir and a sensation, yet that is the contemporary equivalent to Jesus in the Temple!
The whole of the Jewish world would have heard mumblings about this Jesus, about the ‘disruptive’ things that He was doing. What REALLY got to the religious leaders, though, was His claim to be God-to have the right and authority to forgive sins. At His trial, there was not likely a lot of talk about the miracles, or the Sabbath infractions, but rather their biggest complaint was the He was a blasphemer!
The definition of a Blasphemer is: “to speak impiously or irreverently of (God or sacred things)”.
What are some of the “Sacred things” in our society? What are those things that we as Christians are ‘not allowed’ to speak about?
I love that Jesus was scandalous! It puts into perspective the dreams and visions that He calls us to. All over the world, people are scandalizing societies with their dreams. Bono did it with the Red Project, Muhammad Yunus did it with micro-credit in Bangladesh, Bill Gates is doing it with his work to reform education in America, and orphanages all over Africa are changing the way society views those with HIV, by embracing infected children and loving them. It is time to reach past the constraints of ‘what would people think?’ and begin to scandalize your sphere of influence!
You might not be called to change the whole world, but you can still cause a stir. What would happen if you voiced God’s perspective on abortion, homosexuality, and abstinence? What if you refused to listen to gossip, or spoke highly of your spouse? How would your co-worker respond if you offered to pray for her-or even just lent her your car? Does the word Scandalous come to mind?
This has reignited my desire for adventure, to seek out a purposeful existence that might seem to push the envelope of reason, or ‘security’-but isn’t that what Jesus was all about?
This immersion of all things ‘guy’ has changed my perspective on Jesus. The other night, we got chatting about The DaVinci Code. In the course of conversation, the word scandalous came up. I had a realization. Jesus lived a scandalous life- not scandalous like Enron, or “Jude Law with the Nanny” but scandalous none the less.
Dictionary.com defines scandal as:
a disgraceful or discreditable action, circumstance, etc.
an offense caused by a fault or misdeed.
damage to reputation; public disgrace.
Think of this, for thousands of years, the Jewish people had lived according to a certain way. They were, in Jesus’ time, a people living under occupation; this meant that they were subject to a foreign rule that just barely tolerated the Jewish lifestyle and faith. His birth was shrouded in scandal, everyone knew who He was, and then He began to preach!
He healed on the Sabbath, questioned the Pharisees, reached out to the Leper, spoke to the ‘unclean’ Samaritan woman living in sin, protected the adulteress, disrupted the temple, questioned traditions, and called the fishermen! We are familiar with all these stories, and we tell them like trite children’s tales, focusing on the lesson rather than the action.
Think of it this way….. What if someone stormed CNN’s studios, and began to expose the lies that this culture has pounded into our minds and hearts? “Debt is normal”, “the world exists for my benefit”, “I deserve to be happy”, “Sexual preference is not a choice”. What if churches began to pay off people’s debt and then trained them to stay out of that debt? What if our churches truly became a hospital for the sick of heart? It would cause a stir and a sensation, yet that is the contemporary equivalent to Jesus in the Temple!
The whole of the Jewish world would have heard mumblings about this Jesus, about the ‘disruptive’ things that He was doing. What REALLY got to the religious leaders, though, was His claim to be God-to have the right and authority to forgive sins. At His trial, there was not likely a lot of talk about the miracles, or the Sabbath infractions, but rather their biggest complaint was the He was a blasphemer!
The definition of a Blasphemer is: “to speak impiously or irreverently of (God or sacred things)”.
What are some of the “Sacred things” in our society? What are those things that we as Christians are ‘not allowed’ to speak about?
I love that Jesus was scandalous! It puts into perspective the dreams and visions that He calls us to. All over the world, people are scandalizing societies with their dreams. Bono did it with the Red Project, Muhammad Yunus did it with micro-credit in Bangladesh, Bill Gates is doing it with his work to reform education in America, and orphanages all over Africa are changing the way society views those with HIV, by embracing infected children and loving them. It is time to reach past the constraints of ‘what would people think?’ and begin to scandalize your sphere of influence!
You might not be called to change the whole world, but you can still cause a stir. What would happen if you voiced God’s perspective on abortion, homosexuality, and abstinence? What if you refused to listen to gossip, or spoke highly of your spouse? How would your co-worker respond if you offered to pray for her-or even just lent her your car? Does the word Scandalous come to mind?
2 comments:
Hey Laura!
you know whats funny?!?! I was going to write about guy time today in my blog!!! thats sooo weird!! anyways, i agree with what you said...
tres cool laura!!! speaking of doig guyish things... what do you think about going hiking this weekend?? I'll facebook ya later! Good post, keep em coming
God bless =)
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