Jesuslife = Still pretty ridiculously simple.

The Jesuslife is so embarrassingly simple. It’s no good for egotistical sages looking for an arsenal of fluffy quips. Because at some point, I stop learning a lot of profound new truths and have to admit that I haven’t really lived the ones I learned 20 years ago. And even when I start to live them, I regress so easily. Maybe we make following Jesus more complicated because we’re uncomfortable with tension, suffering, or plain ol’ tough decisions.

Example 1: Chatting with a friend yesterday who works in prison ministry, he told the story of an inmate who had been shot by another inmate. “The guy came to me and told me his story. He had been unsure whether or not he should confront his attacker and fight him. He told me, ‘I asked my Christian friends what to do and they told me the bible says I should forgive him. So I just decided to forgive him.’” Simple right? Now I’ll be the first to say that forgiveness is a long and multi-layered process. But sometimes because of what we believe about our position to God, we don’t feel we can “afford” to forgive. But sometimes we just need to make a simple choice. But lacking the resolve to grow or to obey (for a zillion deeply-rooted personal reasons), we make forgiveness a more complex and weighty issue than it already is! I’m a huge fan of looking deep inside and admitting what’s there, even if it isn’t pretty. We don’t do any favors by lying to ourselves and each other. But self-awareness is one step on the cyclical journey of growth. The point for us has to be Christlike maturity that makes the Father happy. Not acceptance, or inner peace or, well-adjustedness, but God-focused growth, “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ… Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”  

Example 2: Yesterday I spent 6 hours with a new Ethiopian friend I met on the plane ride home from Africa. (Consequently we decided, with significant nudging from the Holy Spirit, to organize a 2-week WDA teaching trip in Ethiopia this January. So yes! I plan to be in Ethiopia in January! Stay tuned for more info.) This guy was a pastor for 12 years without a salary. Yes, he’s married (no kids) and he worked full-time without pay for over a decade because God “called” him.

“So what how the heck did you survive?”

“Oh well, we just trusted God to take care of us.”

“That must have been unbelievably stressful!”

“When you’re poor, you don’t have many choices. You do what you can. So I’d go do ministry in one place, maybe stay with a friend, then go to another place. If someone wanted to feed me, I’d eat. I wouldn’t ask, but people would often give me different things: some food or a little spending money. But I can say that God always provided for my needs.”

“Wow. It’s easy to say God will provide, but it sounds like you really lived it!”

“Oh sure. And he’ll provide all your needs too. I’m sure of it.”

The guy seemed genuinely unconcerned about money. He paid for our lunch without flinching and told me of his plans to travel back and forth to Ethiopia… with what money, I still have no clue!

Maybe I’m setting a bad precedent with that story. I mean, I believe God sometimes calls people to work their butts off, make the smart choice, pay off the student loans, save every penny, or plan for the future. And sometimes he calls people to throw their “future” down the toilet and just ask for daily bread. Each has their own path.

But I’m convinced that it’s not necessarily irresponsible or bad stewardship (though it can be) to pursue a calling and live hand-to-mouth for the Kingdom. But I can say that it is definitely irresponsible AND bad stewardship to waste your time, mental energy, and physical health worrying about tomorrow’s provision.

And that’s where I’m at right now: circling around from anxiety, to apathy, to trust, and back to anxiety about the instability of our lifestyle and income as missionaries.

Truthfully, I have enough (MORE than enough) for today. I even have enough for tomorrow and next week, and next month. And given my friend’s lifestyle, I’m a little embarrassed by the things I consider “needs”. But add a mortgage and moving expenses and suddenly, I’m coming up short. 

But is it any of my business to know today what I’ll have tomorrow? I mean really! When did I “outgrow” the birds and the flowers and start demanding guarantees for the future? Is it my birthright as a member of the middle class? Tomorrow, I could lose  everything or get a million bucks and in my work, that’s not unheard of. But God has given me some specific promises about the near future that now feel improbable. Will I keep believing them or start making other plans? Will I settle my heart in God or will I settle it in the bank? 

I’m drawn to stability but I gotta stop looking for it in the wrong places.

As my new friend prayed for me he said, “I see you sitting out on the water and there’s a big rock in the middle of the water. As long as you sit on the rock (that’s Jesus), you’ll be secure.”

Well….

Duh. Simple right? So what’s the hang up?