Jesus' American Dream

"Some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last."

I cannot tell you how many times these words from Jesus have rung in my ears. They are said with perceived understanding...from teachers...from pastors...from preachers. But are they? Are they understood? These words are preached like Jesus is "flipping over" things. He is upsetting the apple cart. He is making the religious mad because he moves the top to the bottom, and the bottom to the top. But is he? Perhaps, he is doing something much more.

The Center of Society

It is no surprise that Jesus came with certain expectations and theories. He was expected to be someone at the center of society. He was expected to rub elbows with them. He was expected to wear their roles...their robes. The center of society is the rich…the powerful...the political...the religious. They were expecting the Messiah to be one of them. Seriously, they all did. He was going to be a religious, political, powerful, conqueror. 

So much of what I see in the "American Church" is here in these expectations. We plant churches in the suburbs because they are more "sustainable" (by this we mean that we can financially support a bunch of people coming to a big room to hear us talk). We endorse (or defile) political leaders based on how they provide a more favorable position for our filled auditoriums that we call the "church". We go after cars...homes...educations...all that have the same smack of circumstance that is at the center of society. These are the things we pray for. These are the things we expect Jesus to give to his Church.

So, we say that Jesus is "flipping things over." We claim that these that are at the center of society were just not "spiritual enough." They didn't really "believe in Jesus." It was in “their head, but not in their heart.” But what if Jesus is doing something much more practical…much more compelling?

The Margins of Society

The truth is that Jesus came to the margins of society, not the center. He was born on the outskirts…with the outcasts…around the poor…the broken…the unrefined. He didn’t just live in the neighborhood. He was with them…for them…of them. He was one of them.

This was what was so confusing about Messiah for those in the center of society. Not only was he born to these marginal people, he upheld them. He defended their position. This is not “flipping over”; this is a seismic shift!

Jesus teaches that the margins of society are the center of the kingdom.

This is what freaks us out. He flatly never calls us to the suburbs…to the political…to the rich folk. According to his Kingdom, the wealthiest place in your city is actually the most dangerous neighborhood (and vice-versa). More than your life is at stake. Your soul…your heart…your eyes…your ears are all at risk as you drive through the perfectly kept lanes and dream suburban fairy-tales of happily ever-after. Far from desiring these homes…we should fear them… we should run as fast as we can from the simple assertion that we stay a night in one…our stomachs should ache and our skin should crawl.

The poor, the powerless, the broken, and the outcast are more than welcomed into the kingdom. Their lives display the kingdom. Somehow, in this reoriented kingdom, we will find the clearest understanding of Jesus as we touch the untouchable. Then a shift happens. What you spent 1,000 sermons searching for is suddenly right in front of you. All of those mornings hoping God “would show up” suddenly becomes clear that what he said was true; He is “with you always.” Here. In this broken bramble of a neighborhood. This place where few dare to be at night is a doorway to the very King you have been hoping would grab you and grip you like he did the first time you met.

Jesus call us to REORIENTATION

Just like the Rich Young Ruler and Zacchaeus or the Pharisee and the Prostitute. There is an open call from Jesus to “deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me.” The place we are following him to is to the poor, to preach liberty to the captives, to set free the oppressed.

He calls us to re-center our lives. He openly admits that there are some that are so hard hearted that they could never see the kingdom…never. There are some that see the kingdom and want it but life on the margins is tough…we suffer with those that suffer…so we walk away. There are some that desire the kingdom but they also desire what is at the center of society. Desire for this “world” chokes out a desire for the kingdom like thorns. But there are some that will lay aside their own lives and see the kingdom, desire it, suffer for it, and see fruit come as a result.

The simple truth is that “fruit” is not more people in your auditorium, your classrooms, or your small groups. It is bigger. The sad truth is that you may never see it…feel it…or touch it. You may spend your whole life in these rooms for preaching and teaching yet never once actually see the kingdom. This is because your “church” is reaching for the center of society. You are not being shown what life in the kingdom looks like because your “pastor” has never actually walked with you for one second of your life. He has never guided you toward the kingdom. He has never shown you what life on the margins looks like, feels like.

Deny…Suffer…Follow

The path is still the same as when Jesus walked the earth. He is calling you on a journey. In order to go with him you must deny yourself. Deny your American dream. Deny your white privilege. Deny your identity as an African-American. Deny your “church” programs. Deny your need to preach every Sunday. Accept the call to the consequences of Jesus’ words.

Follow him to the margins.

Stay there.

Love them.

This is the Kingdom.

Wake up Your Faith...

One of the concerns facing the current condition of the Church is a lack of connectivity with other believers. We huddle into autonomous church buildings or disconnected denominations and close off our communication from other Christians. We also insulate ourselves from those outside our circles and we suffer relationally, as well as intellectually. The truth is that there is much to be learned and gained from our Christian brothers and sisters, both now and throughout history.

This is one of the many reasons that I am thankful for books like “Awakening Faith” by James Stuart Bell. This book is a gold mine of wonderful devotions from the Early Church period. Each page is a window into the faith that has stood for millennia. The Christian reading these daily offerings will be blessed, encouraged, and educated by those that have been so critical in establishing the foundations of the church.

The reader will find these devotions to contain enough of an excerpt to get the mind and heart moving but not so much that the focus is on the book. Topics are included, as well as biblical references to encourage some more thought on the topic being discussed by the Church Father. This is a book that will be one of you favorite devotions to have by you in the morning.

The only areas of criticism are that the writings being used in the devotion are not referenced. The reader cannot go and read more by this particular writer. I would hope to see this addressed in a second edition. I would also hope to see better indexing. There is some in the back but I felt that having a few paths through the devotional would have been nice (and simple enough). To move through the devotional by topic, by author, and chronologically would have been a vast improvement to the indexing of the devotions.

That being said, this book is well worth your time and money. You will be using it for years to come. If you are looking for a devotional that breaks out of the typical mold then you will want to consider “Awakening Faith”.

Zondervan provided me a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This was not an effect on the review that I have written.