Last time I did a list like this we had a good conversation, so I have been pondering other statements that make us fail as Christians. Here is a stab at an additional 10.

1. I cannot possibly change for real.
2. I do not need the church (or “Church”) to worship or live my life.
3. Jesus did not mean all the hard stuff he said, it was just “figurative” right?
4. Being “relevant” is the mission of the local church.
5. Drinking alcohol is a sin since the Bible teaches that.
6. If this feel so right then it can’t really be wrong–even if the Bible teaches otherwise.
7. Walking in the Spirit means working on not sinning.
8. I “go” to church.
9. God really is always loving, so all that anger stuff in the Old Testament is “figurative” since God would never do a flood, wipe a race of people away or kill people out of anger.
10. Our body is not that important in our spiritual life.

Now, let me know if you agree with these or not and why. Can you see scriptures that refute these FAIL statements?

Here is a little list to think about. These ten statements are examples of where Christianity fails because of us. I am interested in how you see these statements.

1. All I have to do is learn how to fit God into my life.
2. Managing my sin is the key to living righteously.
3. If I do enough good, it out weighs the bad.
4. I need to learn more about God before I can obey God.
5. Asking Jesus into my heart means I am a Christian.
6. What I actually do does not matter to God if I said a sinners prayer.
7. Baptism saves me.
8. The Bible can be interpreted in my own way.
9. Spiritual disciplines are about earning God’s favor.
10. All I have to do is what Jesus did in the moment, no planning necessary.

Do you agree with these as FAIL statements or do they challenge you? What others would you add or delete?

In Matthew 25:40 Jesus talks about the “least of these” in the context of how our lives will be judged. I came up with a list of what I call invisible people that I think fit under this umbrella. Obviously, orphans and widows, the imprisoned and poor are on this list in Matthew. But, could there be others we are not off the hook in reaching?

• Young Adults:  The young adults who service our community: the guy who changes your oil, young woman who makes your coffee. They are invisible to the average churched suburban family person. Invisible.
• Poor Immigrant: I am not talking about the HB1 Visa guy who drives the Mercedes, but the ones standing on the street corner hoping to do the dirty job no one else will do. Invisible.
• Single Parents: Its hard having the time to socialize when you are a single mom or dad so where are they? They are busy working and have little margin and some of them low means.
• New Neighbor: Someone moves in on your street and its likely you have not noticed them much. They probably are driving that unknown car right into their garage at a time you never see. Yes, invisible.
• Kids on My Fridge: I give money to help these little kids across the world, but really do not bump into them in my daily life. Invisible.
• Newly Divorced: Its one thing to be a single parent, but going through a divorce puts a person into hiding. Suddenly, we no longer see one of the former spouses. Invisible.
• My Own Kids: I know, we work hard for them. But, are they objects to be taken care of or people we actually see? Are they invisible to me?
• Our Military and Veterans: These men and now a growing group of women serve in dangerous places and how do we love on them? They are invisible to our daily lives.
• The Addicted: Many struggle with drugs or other issues. Often, this is either hidden or the people will not feel safe in our churches. They are invisible.
• The Seeker: There are people who have questions, but we do not have time to bother. They would love to get to know a Christian and are thirsty for truth. Our version of truth is using a Bible as a brick at times. So, they are unseen. Invisible.

This list is NOT comprehensive. What would you add? Do you agree with this list?

I have been having some great discussion on twitter and facebook about this thought and want to be sure my blog does not miss out. This platform allows a bit more thoughtfulness in general.  I am finishing up a sermon I am going to deliver this weekend and this thought came to me: would we be willing to lose our “so-called” Christian friends in order to befriend sinners? Understandably, there are some unanswered issues with such a question. But, I believe the question has merit. Let me explain.

First of all, Jesus says that to follow him we must be willing to literally face execution (take up your cross Matthew 16:24) and Jesus goes as far to remind us that we might lose all our family and if we are not ready for that then we are not ready to follow him. (Luke 14:26). He says if you do not “hate” them, then you cannot be his disciple.

My question has to do with willingness. If losing our life is the aim of following Jesus, do we have it in us to walk away from those Jesus might want us to walk away from? Or, by going to Jesus it is clear there will be people who will walk away from us.

Now, please understand that when I say “Christian” you can put “religious” or whatever in that slot. The issue is that Jesus is a “friend of sinners” (Matthew 11:19) and we are to be like Jesus. Those who claim to follow Christ would be friends of sinners, too. Right?

We live in our Christian bubble, nod at the same phrases, have our own music and love that our kids are safe in a youth group that hopefully has more Christian kids than not. However, this is what we should be willing to lose. We should be willing to lose our comfort for the cross of befriending those who do not know Jesus yet. Our church circle must be a place where we embrace those people who the religious hate.

I am excited about being able to speak this weekend at Sunridge and hope you can dialog and wrestle with me about some of the things Jesus said and the questions that come from that.

We talked about Jesus and his mission this morning at our staff meeting and this tree with real strong roots came to mind. Perhaps those of us who lead ministries might learn from a tree when thinking of the mission of Jesus. I remember a pastor once saying, “want to grow something fast, grow a mushroom…want to grow something that lasts plant an acorn.” Really, ministry is like a tree. The wind actually makes the tree stronger. Drought forces the root system deeper and farther to sustain life. Oh, the mushroom is impressive if you have no sense of time or no brain at all.

Are we too impressed with mushroom-like church growth, personal growth today to be patient for the tree that has structure to actually last?

download wallpaper file of this weeks doodle

You can take up your cross MP3 player and…follow the groove while you show off your addiction to Jesus junk and the Christian sub-culture-ghetto way of life. Yes, the cross MP3 player is for real. Yikes!

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. – Matthew 16:24

HT: @atomicpoet