Holy Discontent (2)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction/Scripture
Introduction/Scripture
Pray.
If you are just joining us today, we are in our second week of further up and further in. And really this build on each other so I would recommend that you go on youtube or facebook and listen to last week.
This series is based on a massive survey of self-professing Christians in our country.
A few years ago, George Barna and the barna group did a massive study of self-professed Christians in America over the age of 18 and they found something interesting. They found that they could identify a spectrum of faith where each Christian was finding their journey to be. 10 stops ranging from Completely unaware of sin to profound love of God and people. Let’s look at these stops…they are on the back of your bulletin.
Distribution of Adults along the Transformational Journey
Stop 1: Unaware of sin……........…1%
Stop 2: Indifferent to sin…............16%
Stop 3: Worried about sin...............39%
Stop 4: Forgiven for sin…................9%
Stop 5: Forgiven and active……….24%
Then, we really want to focus on this second half of the journey. So we begin today with stop 5 and then we will press on into the rest.
Pressing On:
Stop 6: Holy discontent……............6%
Stop 7: Broken by God…….............3%
Stop 8: Surrender and submission…..1%
Stop 9: Profound love of God…… 0.5%
Stop 10: Profound love of people..0.5%
Here is what is so important about this second half of the journey:
It is what we are created for. It is the full story
This is Wesleyan faith. Our contribution to the conversation....and if our people fit in this cycle then we have failed and because the greater group of Christians have, then our voice has been all too quiet.
Are you ready to press on? I am responsible to introduce you to the first stop in the pressing on journey. Holy Discontent. This is for the person that is forgiven, assurance of faith, active in the church. Serving in meaningful ways.
According to Barna there is something that stalls after stop 5. Folks either make it to a place of discontent and slide back into comfort and marginal church activities, or get to a place of a need for deep submission to Christ and it becomes uncomfortable or too difficult or the loss seems to be too great.
Barna rightly admits that for most this is not a simple linear progression but something that can be fluid, repetitive, or definitely non-linear, but still many within the church in America never make it through this step of Holy discontent.
The question is, what is holy discontent? What is holy about discontent?
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Pray.
Pretty much all I listen to is news, podcast or audio book and the only music is something Christian, mainly worship music. My son Luke has caught on to this fact. It is the last thing we go through before he goes to bed. I let him flip through my itunes on my phone. He clicks on an album and selects a song…almost without exception (unless he finds Tom Petty or CCR or someone I inherited from my dad) he finds a worship song.
The other night, he looks at me and asks, “Dad what is this song called?”
I tell him.
He responds with another question (there is always another question)....”Is this song about Jesus?” .....Yes.
Almost bored with my answer....”why is every song have to be about Jesus?”
oh great, my son is already tired of his preacher dad.
Allow me to project a little for illustrative purposes, but isnt this what holy discontent is? Growing tired of just hearing about Jesus, tired of doing things in the name of Jesus, but not grasping the Jesus the song is about.
This is Holy discontent.
This is what George Barna says about this stage:
“So the first perspective to embrace is the fact that your discontent with the manifestations of your faith — your church, your Bible reading, your Christian friends, your relationship with God — is not a sign of weakness. Quite the opposite: it’s more likely a sign of the life that needs to burst forth within you. Next, wrap your mind around the notion that you refuse to settle for “good enough” any longer. Simply attending church services every week is not good enough. Aimlessly reading the Bible to glean more knowledge is not good enough. Volunteering a few hours a month to work alongside your church friends to serve others out of a sense of Christian duty is not good enough. Praying to God before meals, in public gatherings, or in times of crisis or helplessness is not good enough."
It seems this is a place that Paul has been when he writes the letter to Philippi:
Paul’s Holy Discontent
Paul’s Holy Discontent
Right before Paul’s great charge to us that we read just a moment ago, he goes through a reflection of holy discontent.
Of course he is not one of the surveyed by George Barna, from his jail cell, most likely in Rome. He is not talking in the terms we are using here but he is speaking to something very important in the church of Philippi.
Paul is speaking to a community that appears to be suffering from Judaizers twisting up what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
There are these people in Macedonian community of Philippi that would say that to be Christian is to conform to all of the Jewish customs.
circumcision
food laws
festivals
sabbath
etc.
Do we ever put expectations on people to look or be a certain way to be accepted in our community?
Now, it is not that Paul has a problem with these, he still practices them and believes that they are important. It is more likely though that Paul is infuriated at the continued works-righteousness of these Judaizers. The continued teaching that it is religious practices that save you.
In his own life and the degree that this teaching existed in the churches, Paul wants people to see that these activities were always and are still an means to an end....not the end of itself.
In other words, your church activity, your response, your service, is always in response to and a means to Jesus.
and church attendance, giving, even scripture reading, prayer, mission work....they can be activities that inoculate but never satisfy.
To prove it, Paul lays out his resume:
From people of Israel, God’s people from the beginning
of the tribe of Benjamin, whom Deut says they are blessed and loved by the Lord
Hebrew of Hebrews. pure from the beginning
in regard to the law, the most prestigious
zeal and passion....the ones smashing out challengers
Righteousness based on the law....to the T
He is the pride of the village, he is the bright star. The celebrity we love to follow without the scandal or blemish. As far as “measurables,” “religion,” “Doing things the right way”
He is batting 100.
But none of it saves. on its own it is exhausting. In many ways it is human strength in isolation and it is not sustainable or life-giving.
This is the holy discontent acknowledgement that so many of us still must face.
and the joy today is you see the disposition that is on the otherside of it for Paul:
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
This is a man in prison that knows nothing else matters other than attaining what has been accomplished in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The second half of the journey is not about church activity, it is about releasing yourself to Christ and therefore living as you were created to be. This journey can be difficult, no doubt.
Speaking of transformation Barna writes:
Change is a refinement that is typically short-term, impermanent, incremental, superficial, and of limited ultimate consequence. In contrast, transformation is generally long-term, permanent, systemic, deep, and monumental in its impact and consequences. Change merely alters a known reality; transformation radically redefines that reality.
Paul understood that knowing Jesus Christ as Lord is in passing through death and into resurrection, one author aptly puts it:
And we may not choose the parts of the story we like and leave out the rest. For the surpassing [worth] of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I not only must abandon every attempt to gain an advantage with God on the basis of giftings and achievements. But I must also be prepared to discover anew that truly knowing Christ means simultaneously knowing the power of his resurrection (the part I like) and sharing in his sufferings (the part I like less) so as to be conformed to the likeness of Christ’s own death (2:8) and thus to gain the resurrection.1
1 Fee, G. D. (1999). Philippians (Vol. 11, p. 137). Westmont, IL: IVP Academic.
preach this out
but all of this is for the coming weeks...
Holy discontent:
Are you feeling weary?
with life
with relationships
with work
with bible study
prayer
with church
Maybe this is where you are....
And can I just say....we love to blame these things:
church: I am just not getting fed there
bible study, I just dont know where to start or its confusing or boring
with relationships....greener grass on the other side.
No its because you have been listening to songs about someone that you actually do not know....
and you are made for more.
Closing and Eugene Peterson
Closing and Eugene Peterson
In a letter written to his son, Eugene Peterson reflecting on a visit that he had to Tyler, Texas. The late Eugene Peterson was a pastor and author of The Message Bible and many other books. Perhaps most well known for the message. Writing to his son he admits some poignant discomfort that he had when coming to Tyler to promote the Message with hundreds of pastors and laity, 20 years ago:
He writes, “They were all very appreciative and gracious, so I should be grateful. But they were also full of cliches and self-satisfaction at being in such a Christian town and state, with such a Christian president presiding over the world just now. After all these years, I realize that I have never been immersed in such a total Bible Belt world. All the glossy women looked the same; all the pastors sounded the same.
Why am I so uncomfortable in this world? They are all on my side; they are all courteous and affirmative, but it seems to be a gospel without depth, without suffering, without ambiguity. Everything smoothed out and ironed, and with a lot of starch in the collar. Why don’t I ever fit?
Holy discontent, is reaching a place where cliches and inch deep Christianity will not suffice. Where we just don’t fit the mold anymore.
This world is too difficult for our cute little faith and we know it.
But this Christian calling is also much deeper than religious practices. It is nothing short of life over death. Of power. Of hope. Of peace, love, joy that surpasses our imagination.
How is it with your soul?
inventory
checking the mail in college
do not be afraid of what is inside.
Good news today? Hahaha, if you are discontent and honest....you might be right where you need to be for God transform your life.
So keep listening to that Jesus song, it points to the one you were made for.