So, I have apparently been in a bit of a reflective mood the last while. First with the Tribute to my Mom. And now an article I read on a website I frequent has me thinking about some of the people who had an influence on my life when I went to summer camp as a kid. So, let the reflecting continue . . .
I have many memories of summer camp and the fun that I had (at least most of the time). I remember games, activities, skills, crazy skits, crafts, all other kind of fun . . . but what I remember most are some of the counsellors I had in my cabins. They were very often the people who made that week at camp each summer so good. They always seemed to know just when to have fun and act crazy, and when to be serious. And I didn't doubt that they were glad I was there that week.
Over nine summers as a camper, I had a few different counsellors, or cabin leaders as they were called in the later years of my time at camp. Some of them I remember more than others. I considered it a privilege to have been camp staff for a summer with some of them when I became too old to go to camp and was on staff for three summers. It was the amazing cabin leaders I had when I was a camper that made me want to be camp staff myself and showed me the kind of cabin leader I wanted to be when I was one. And, working as camp staff for a few summers also gave me a new appreciation for the love they had shown me when I was a camper. It's a tiring job to be camp staff . . . but also rewarding to see campers grow over the years they return or when you run into them in years after camp and hear a bit about their lives since camp.
As I've thought more about this, I've realized that all through-out our lives we meet people and interact with them for short periods, or longer times, and they can have a huge impact on our lives. We may not even realize it at the time. It may take us years to truly recognize the influence they had on our lives - whether good or bad. And I guess that means we have that same kind of influence on the lives of those we interact with.
What kind of an influence are we having on people? Depending on the situation, the amount of influence we have on others may change, but we have influence on people. What kind of influence do we want to have? Who are the people who you are glad have been in your life - either in the past, or who are in your life now? What kind of influence are you having on people in your life now?
These are just some of the questions that are running through my head right now as I reflect on some of the camp counsellors I was privileged to have in my years as a camper. They may never know the impact they made, but they made one. And we have that same ability in our lives today.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
the church
So, I'm on a bit of a roll tonight . . . second post . . . relating to the same book . . .
OK, so I just finished reading the book Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. It was a good read - not always an easy one, but good nonetheless (as may be evidenced by my feeling the need to use it in two posts in one night).
In the past while I've been wondering if we really understand what the church is supposed to be all about - if we really understand why it exists. In our consumeristic culture, we seem to have gotten caught up in the whole idea of just looking for what the church has to offer us, and maybe in the process, we have missed some of what church is really supposed to be.
The Bible makes it clear that the church is the Body of Christ, which would imply that we are to do more than just receive from it. The church is to be a community of believers who serve one another and the world around them. At least that's how I've always thought of it. Once again, I appreciated much what Wright had to say about this in his book Simply Christian.
"One central biblical way of saying much the same thing is to follow Paul and think of the church as the 'Body of Christ,' the single body in which every individual, and every local community is a limb or an organ. 'The body' is more than merely an image of unity-in-diversity; it's a way of saying that the church is called to do the work of Christ, to be the means of his action in and for the world. The tree, rooted in ancient Israel, standing straight up in Jesus, branching out with life in all directions, is to be the means of implementing his work, of making his achievement real in all the world.: (pg. 201)
If every person, every local community, is an organ or limb in the body, then it becomes pretty obvious that we need one another - that we need the support of community. But, the community is there, so that we go about the mission that Christ left us in this world. Namely that of bringing His Kingdom in the here and now, not of getting people saved so that they go to heaven when they die. The message we have been left with is so much more than that! And taking this message means we must go - not that we should always be looking for how the church can satisfy us.
I really appreciated Wright's explanation about why the church exists. This is a bit of a longer quote, but bear with me. I promise it's a good one.
"The church is first and foremost a community, a collection of people who belong to one another because they belong to God, the God we know in and through Jesus. Though we often use the word 'church' to denote a building, the point is that it's the building where this community meets. True, building can and do carry memories, and when people have been praying and worshipping and mourning and celebrating in a particular building for many years, the building itself may come to speak powerfully of God's welcoming presence. But it is the people who matter.
"The church exists primarily for two closely correlated purposes: to worship God and to work for his kingdom in the world. You can and must worship, and work for God's kingdom, in private and in ways unique to yourself, but if God's kingdom is to go forward, rather than around and around in circles, we must work together as well as apart.
"The church also exists for a third purpose, which serves the other two: to encourage one another, to build one another up in faith, to pray with and for one another, and to set one another examples to follow, challenges to take up, and urgent tasks to perform. This is all part of what is known loosely as fellowship. . . .
"Worship, fellowship, and the work of reflecting God;s kingdom into the world flow into and out of one another." (pg 210-211)
The church is so much more than a building and what we can get out of going there. It is about the people of God meeting together in community to strengthen and encourage and pray with one another. And then moving out into the world to make a difference. Church is not primarily about us!
OK, so I just finished reading the book Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. It was a good read - not always an easy one, but good nonetheless (as may be evidenced by my feeling the need to use it in two posts in one night).
In the past while I've been wondering if we really understand what the church is supposed to be all about - if we really understand why it exists. In our consumeristic culture, we seem to have gotten caught up in the whole idea of just looking for what the church has to offer us, and maybe in the process, we have missed some of what church is really supposed to be.
The Bible makes it clear that the church is the Body of Christ, which would imply that we are to do more than just receive from it. The church is to be a community of believers who serve one another and the world around them. At least that's how I've always thought of it. Once again, I appreciated much what Wright had to say about this in his book Simply Christian.
"One central biblical way of saying much the same thing is to follow Paul and think of the church as the 'Body of Christ,' the single body in which every individual, and every local community is a limb or an organ. 'The body' is more than merely an image of unity-in-diversity; it's a way of saying that the church is called to do the work of Christ, to be the means of his action in and for the world. The tree, rooted in ancient Israel, standing straight up in Jesus, branching out with life in all directions, is to be the means of implementing his work, of making his achievement real in all the world.: (pg. 201)
If every person, every local community, is an organ or limb in the body, then it becomes pretty obvious that we need one another - that we need the support of community. But, the community is there, so that we go about the mission that Christ left us in this world. Namely that of bringing His Kingdom in the here and now, not of getting people saved so that they go to heaven when they die. The message we have been left with is so much more than that! And taking this message means we must go - not that we should always be looking for how the church can satisfy us.
I really appreciated Wright's explanation about why the church exists. This is a bit of a longer quote, but bear with me. I promise it's a good one.
"The church is first and foremost a community, a collection of people who belong to one another because they belong to God, the God we know in and through Jesus. Though we often use the word 'church' to denote a building, the point is that it's the building where this community meets. True, building can and do carry memories, and when people have been praying and worshipping and mourning and celebrating in a particular building for many years, the building itself may come to speak powerfully of God's welcoming presence. But it is the people who matter.
"The church exists primarily for two closely correlated purposes: to worship God and to work for his kingdom in the world. You can and must worship, and work for God's kingdom, in private and in ways unique to yourself, but if God's kingdom is to go forward, rather than around and around in circles, we must work together as well as apart.
"The church also exists for a third purpose, which serves the other two: to encourage one another, to build one another up in faith, to pray with and for one another, and to set one another examples to follow, challenges to take up, and urgent tasks to perform. This is all part of what is known loosely as fellowship. . . .
"Worship, fellowship, and the work of reflecting God;s kingdom into the world flow into and out of one another." (pg 210-211)
The church is so much more than a building and what we can get out of going there. It is about the people of God meeting together in community to strengthen and encourage and pray with one another. And then moving out into the world to make a difference. Church is not primarily about us!
worship
I just finished reading this book that made me think and also made a lot of sense. It's Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. In some ways I felt like I was back in my Bible college days, reading a textbook for a class that was challenging, but also good at the same time.
In one section of the book, Wright talks about worship. He has a chapter on worship, and there were some things he had to say that really made me think. He talked about two "golden rules at the heart of spirituality" (to use his words) that I thought were really good.
(1) "You become like what you worship. When you gaze in awe, admiration, and wonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of the character of the object of your worship." (pg. 148)
(2) ". . . because you were made in God's image, worship makes you more truly human. When you gaze in love and gratitude at the God in whose image you were made, you do indeed grow. You discover more of what it means to be fully alive. Conversely, when you give that same total worship to to anything or anyone else, you shrink as a human being." (pg. 148)
We become like what we worship, and worship is what makes us more truly human. That just seems to sum up worship and what it should be so well.
Wright also talks about the importance of worship and why we may not be drawn to it in the way we should be.
"Worship is at the very center of all Christian living. One of the main reasons that theology (trying to think straight about who God is) matters is that we are called to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. It matters that we learn more about who God is so that we can him more appropriately. Perhaps one of the reasons why so much worship, in some churches at least, appears so unattractive to so many people is that we have forgotten, or covered up, the truth about the one we worshipping. But whenever we even glimpse the truth, we drawn back. Like groupies sneaking off work to see a rock start who's in town for just an hour or so, like fans waiting all night for a glimpse of a football team returning in triumph - those who come to recognize the God we see in Jesus, the Lion who is also the Lam, will long to come and worship him." (pg. 148-149)
I think Wright hit the nail on the head about why we're not always drawn to worship, and about the truth that will continue to draw us back in worship. May we learn to not cover up the truth about Who we are really worshipping!
In one section of the book, Wright talks about worship. He has a chapter on worship, and there were some things he had to say that really made me think. He talked about two "golden rules at the heart of spirituality" (to use his words) that I thought were really good.
(1) "You become like what you worship. When you gaze in awe, admiration, and wonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of the character of the object of your worship." (pg. 148)
(2) ". . . because you were made in God's image, worship makes you more truly human. When you gaze in love and gratitude at the God in whose image you were made, you do indeed grow. You discover more of what it means to be fully alive. Conversely, when you give that same total worship to to anything or anyone else, you shrink as a human being." (pg. 148)
We become like what we worship, and worship is what makes us more truly human. That just seems to sum up worship and what it should be so well.
Wright also talks about the importance of worship and why we may not be drawn to it in the way we should be.
"Worship is at the very center of all Christian living. One of the main reasons that theology (trying to think straight about who God is) matters is that we are called to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. It matters that we learn more about who God is so that we can him more appropriately. Perhaps one of the reasons why so much worship, in some churches at least, appears so unattractive to so many people is that we have forgotten, or covered up, the truth about the one we worshipping. But whenever we even glimpse the truth, we drawn back. Like groupies sneaking off work to see a rock start who's in town for just an hour or so, like fans waiting all night for a glimpse of a football team returning in triumph - those who come to recognize the God we see in Jesus, the Lion who is also the Lam, will long to come and worship him." (pg. 148-149)
I think Wright hit the nail on the head about why we're not always drawn to worship, and about the truth that will continue to draw us back in worship. May we learn to not cover up the truth about Who we are really worshipping!
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