Fools!

About a week ago i attended my alma mater up in fort worth, texas. A couple of my fellow classmates were graduating from seminary and i went to cheer them on. And it's funny how God continues to push you when you're standing there and there's that constant reassuring thought the Holy Spirit blesses you with. I think recently ministry has taken a toll on my soul (nice rhyme) and i continue to wonder if i'm really cut out to do ministry. Like there are some days when i'm at the office and i wonder "why am i doing this? i'm not as good as i thought i was...the youth don't seem to be growing...blah blah blah" and i go into this self-loathing pity party. Ha. Talk about depravity right? But this is me.

So i get up to seminary and i was just expecting to sit through a typical graduation sermon, sing 2 songs, pray, and watch my friends walk. The president reads

1 Corinthians 15:12-17 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

We are fools in the eyes of many because of our faith. It is futile in it's methods and means. We use this God in heaven and this Jesus fellow as a crutch to get through life. We are fools because our ethic is counter-cultural and we get exploited, used, and crushed. We are fools because we believe that there's something else out there other than this world. We are fools because we believe God in the flesh live

1 Corinthians 15:20-24 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

But. It hit me like a monkey crossing a bridge in July with a snowcone. Our faith is useless, worthless, worthy of being mocked, UNLESS it is true. Something swelled inside of my soul to think of the implications. We are no longer fools for becoming ministers, missionaries, equipped biblically...we find ourselves doing and in essence, being, the very agent that God has intended us to be. The question I find myself asking now is "How seriously do I take this Jesus and what he says? Is it a feel-good, once-a-week lesson? Or is Jesus really coming back one day and ask us what we did with our time, talents, and resources? Do i really trust that his way for life is better than popular culture's?" No friends, we are not fools...for many have tasted what is genuine conversion and they have not been able to recover. I find myself humbly in this line of "fools" for i have nothing intrinsically valuable, nor do i have the knowledge needed to succeed in this life...so i play the part of a "fool" in the eyes of the world and "redeemed, forgiven, justified, holy" in the eyes of my King.

"Open Your Bibles"

Open Your Bibles: In the fall semester of my first year at Seminary I was able to take New Testament I by Dr. John Taylor. It was probably one of the bigger classes with about 50 something students but still I didn’t know anyone. I sat in the back with the rest of the “younger guys” in the classroom. There were probably 5 girls there I think and the rest were a mix of guys. Some of them were in suits, some looked like my dad, and others seemed as though they were straight out of college. I remember one day in class the guy behind me wore sandals and would always prop his feet on the back of my chair legs and it was game over for me (but that’s another story). Anyways, so this one day Dr. Taylor…actually I think this was the first day of class…he tells us to all stand up. I had no clue what he was doing…I seriously thought we were going to pledge allegiance to the flag or something. But he goes, “Alright, grab your bibles” and out of nowhere he starts reading. The thing is that he never told us where he was so I’m looking around going “uhh…what’s going on?” He pauses and says, “Alright, when you know where I’m reading from go ahead and read along and then you can sit down…but until then, stay standing”. Mad chaos breaks out in the room…you see dudes just start sweating and flipping like all over the place. I felt bad for the people who didn’t bring their bibles. I pick up words like “Jesus” and “grace” and go “Alright, well at least it’s New Testament”. Couple minutes later the first guy sits down. Panic. It’s that feeling when you’re taking a test and the first guy gets up and turns in your paper and all of the sudden it’s like a competition. Few minutes pass and several other sits down. I catch more words like “slave” and “sin” and by the grace of God I flip to where he was at after a few more minutes. After 10 minutes Dr. Taylor stops and looks up and there’s like 1/3 of the class still searching their bibles for this passage. He had gone through like 4-5 chapters by this time and I won’t forget what he said. “This is your Bible. You should know this like it’s the only thing there is. You’re going to be pastors and teachers and you should be ashamed of yourselves.” I remember from that day on I made it a commitment to really know my stuff. I mean, we’re told to read our bibles and whatever but to really know it is something totally different. And there’s something I’ve realized throughout the years…those men and women who really have an impact on culture and transform this world for Christ…they really really really know their stuff. And they don’t just know their scripture but they want to know it. Does that make sense? Like it’s not a chore for them…they actually incorporate it in their every day conversations and lives. It’s the whole “I have stored up your word in my heart…teach me your statues…in the way of your testimonies I delight”