I talk to people all the time who struggle with their relationship with God. It’s not that they don’t want to have a better relationship with Him, it’s that they simply don’t see Him.

It’s not only that they don’t see Him but they don’t hear His voice or feel His presence either. As far as they are concerned God exists but He definitely doesn’t know how to show it. This can be a discouraging thing as I’m sure you can imagine. You feel alone and isolated from people who seem to have no problem feeling the presence of God. You put on a good front but inside your heart is breaking with every worship song, sermon, and prayer.

1 John 4:12 says.

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

This is very encouraging. Here the author says “no one has ever seen God”. You’re not alone, we all struggle with the feeling of His absence at one point or another. Some of us for very, very long periods of time.  The point is, most of us will never see Jesus in a vision or any other way while in mortal flesh. We may never hear the very voice of God audibly whisper His desires in our ears. But we do have a promise.

Sure, none of us have ever seen God, BUT if we make love a priority, we just may.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 12:1

Romans 12 has commonly been considered to be speaking about the spiritual gifts of believers. While I can see why some may think that I think it’s an incomplete view considering the context of the chapter. What Romans 12 actually gives is great insight into spiritual worship and our role in it. Interestingly it says nothing about songs, posture, or protocol.

As we read above, Paul encourages us to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God”. This, he refers to as our spiritual worship. The question is, how do we do that? How do we truly worship God in that way?

Paul gives us a list (non exhaustive) in this chapter that we can use to understand what this worship looks like. Here a few he mentions.

• serving
• teaching
• exhorting
• giving
• leading
• showing mercy
• showing honor

These are only a few of the ways Paul reveals as worship towards God. Notice anything strange about Paul’s list? Almost all of the things he mentions are directed towards other people and not towards God directly.

You cannot truly worship God without others.

Our spiritual worship is shown in our relationships, our willingness to engage others in love, and out ability to put others first. It doesn’t matter how many songs you sing, prayers you lift up, verses you memorize, or sermons you listen to. If you isolate yourself from others, you hinder your ability to worship God. And ultimately to even know Him.

What other ways might we participate in true worship?

I wanted to offer some perspective on many pastor’s fixation on Sunday morning attendance. Many pastors get picked on for caring to much about numbers. We’re told that we are only concerned with growing our churches and for many building their ministerial net worth.

Now certainly there are churches and pastors who are doing what they do for the wrong reasons, although I would like to believe that it’s a lot less than most assume, there are some valid reasons why attendance is important to us and I thought I would share a couple.

You might be missing something specifically for you

Have you ever gone to church and thought, “Wow! It’s like the speaker prepared that message just for me.” I don’t want to detract from what the Holy Spirit so often does, but many times that wasn’t an accident, coincidence, or even divine intervention.

In a small church it’s a lot easier and more common for the pastor to know everyone in the congregation. I have conversations all the time with people in our church community and it would be almost impossible that when I am preparing a message that my heart for those people wouldn’t be steered in a specific direction, just for them. I’m not talking about revealing someone’s personal or private information. I simply mean that my heart will many times be drawn to passages and nuggets with specific people in mind.

This isn’t only true for the messages but also the music and other events that take place on a Sunday morning. When you miss Sunday morning you miss what God, I or other have prepared specifically to encourage and build you up.

That may not be the case for you specifically for you every Sunday, but why would you risk it?

You might be missing an opportunity.

In all honesty, I’m not convinced that the sermon or even the worship are the most important things that happen on Sunday mornings. I see so much potential in community interactions and many times missed opportunities because a particular person was missing.

When a visitor comes it might just be you that they relate to the best and make a significant connection with. As conversations of shared life experiences are happening it very well could be you who can relate and offer wisdom and comfort. Your failures, successes, hurts, joys, struggles, and victories. All of your life is a resource that others need and the way you provide it is by being present.

The short of it is this, there are going to be days when we can’t make it to church for one reason or an other and that’s perfectly fine, but most weeks I’m thinking of you when I prepare my message and so are others. And even when that isn’t the case, God is. He’s also thinking about everyone else and how his children might care for one another.

About a year ago at church a story was shared about the persecution of various pastors in Uganda. These pastors were blindfolded and lined in front of a firing squad. The particular pastor this story is about heard the gun fire but was miraculously not shot.

I in no way want to over simplify this story but for the sake of brevity, this pastor was the only survivor. As the awesomeness of God’s protection and this man’s dedication to Christ washed over all of us listening, I couldn’t shake the images of all the other pastors who had not survived. Why had God not saved them?

As a pastor I have lots of conversations with people who struggle with their faith. Some of these struggles are mental, some are emotional, and some are even physical. There is no easy way to explain to someone hurting why God seemingly lifts these burdens off of some people while other are forced to suffer. For most people, the reason to come to God is to suffer no more.

Paul seemed to struggle with this very thing as well. Paul claimed, “a thorn was given me in the flesh”. There is no way to really know what “thorn” Paul suffered with but his desperation in the verses that follow is very clear.

8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:8-10

Think about this for a second. The early church is seeing the power of God displayed in tremendous ways. Even through Paul’s own ministry many are being miraculously healed and delivered. And yet Paul himself is not delivered from something he calls “a messenger of Satan” in verse 7. He pleaded with God for freedom. Paul was struggling, why wasn’t God doing something?

But you’re not the Apostle Paul and most likely you’re not an African pastor facing a firing line. You’re not struggling with an unknown “thorn in the flesh” or death because of your faith. You’re an alcoholic, addicted to drugs or pornography. You were abused. You are fighting thoughts that fill you with increasingly deep shame.  You are finding it difficult to resolve your faith with your sexuality. You feel isolated and alone. Sometimes… you just want to give up.

You, like Paul, cry out to be released from these daily battles while it seem all around you people are finding peace and strength. But what if I told you that everyday you and everyone around you are being freed from some struggles while others remain? I wonder if we don’t all have a “thorn in the flesh” that remains with us throughout this life. If there were no struggles, no suffering, no weakness there would be no need for grace. Where these things abound grace abounds all the more. Grace is revealed in suffering.

Our world has been shattered by disobedience and pride. This devastation has impacted everyone who has ever lived. We suffer, this is a fact. But God did not merely watch from afar removed from our suffering. No, He came to us in our own tortured lives and suffered with us. He felt the pain, torment, and desperation that we feel now. He faced rejection and hatred. He experienced temptation and the sting of betrayal. He saw first hand a world that was broken and gave His own life so that grace could comfort and sustain us.

We ask, “God, why don’t you do something while I’m suffering?” He responds, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

In suffering our weakness is revealed. Our need is made more evident in our struggles. Christ, having experienced it all, is never closer than in our suffering.

When we are weak, then we are strong.

On the third morning after Jesus death the disciples were terrified. Never has so much been lost at one time. At least I assume thats how it must have felt

Jesus is dead. God is a fairytale. Years of their lives wasted and now the future seems pretty dark as well. Nothing could convince them otherwise. Perhaps you can  relate.

When the women get to the tomb and find it empty their first response is not, ”Jesus is alive!” instead its, ”somebody moved the body!”

When the women told the disciples of their angelic visitation, faith is not instantly restored. They don’t really even believe the women. Their actions cry foul play.

It’s not until Jesus shows up in the flesh and reveals his body to the 10 (Thomas isn’t there at the moment) that they finally find reason to rejoice. But when they share the news with Thomas he proclaimes them crazy and says ”until I see and touch Jesus’ body for myself I won’t believe.”

Thomas does finally get what he needs to believe.

Do you see the common thread through all of this. None of these people are willing to suspend there sorrow and disbelief until they witness the body of Christ for themselves. I believe this is by design.

For thousands of years earlier it was prophesied that the Messiah would come. But the life of Christ was not made evident until his birth.

It wasn’t an angelic visitation or a star in the sky that convinced the shepherds or the wise men. It was the physical body of the child Jesus that made his life evident.

It wasn’t a prophesy or promise that sealed the deal for Simeon or Anna at the temple. It was the physical body of the child Jesus that made his life evident.

It wasn’t Jesus teaching or a stone rolled away that quenched the fear and disbelief of those who followed him. It was the physical body of the Jesus, in the flesh, that made his life and resurrection evident.

Today it is no different.

Our experiences shared with one another aren’t going to calm our fears and anxieties.

Miracles assumed or confirmed aren’t going to cure our disbelief.

No amount of sermons, songs, or sacraments will convince us that our worship isn’t in vain.

Even now the power of the resurrection and life of Christ are made evident through his body.

This is the potential of the church as I see it.  Not our ability to raise money for great charitable causes. Not our ability to to unify a large group of people to stomp out injustice. Not our ability to sway political and societal norms. These may all be true but they are not the reason for the churches existence.

The church, you and I united as the physical body of Jesus, are here to make evident the resurrection and life of Christ.

When you or I come across the authentic body of Christ, perhaps seeing Jesus for the first time, the power to believe will begin to be restored.

This is my one and only vision for the Exchange.

Jesus came to earth in the flesh to change everything. He came to redeem the world, teach his law, and demonstrate his kingdom to all of us.

12 men gave up everything to follow him. What they experienced during that time could never truly be captured. It’s the type of experience that changes ones life forever. You don’t spend 3 years listening to Jesus teach and watching him perform miracles and walk away unaffected. That kind of thing leaves a mark forever. That is until the unthinkable happens.

On the third morning after Jesus crucifixion the 11 remaining disciples had barricaded themselves behind lock doors. The bible says they were afraid of the Jews but if they were anything like me that’s not all they were afraid of. Jesus was dead and as far as they were concerned that wasn’t supposed to happen. They never understood a single thing that Jesus taught about this day. All they knew was that everything they had believed so strongly in for the past 3 years had been destroyed.

With confidence I can tell you that they weren’t afraid that God was dead. They weren’t afraid that God had given up and abandoned them. My guess is they were afraid for the very reason we are sometimes.

They were afraid that what they experienced wasn’t even God at all.

I can imagine their conversations as they are hulled up in that room, discussing the events of the past 3 years. Was any of it real? They saw Jesus open blind eyes and deaf ears. They witnessed him walk on water and command a storm with only his words. They got goosebumps as he fed 5000 people with only a couple loaves and some fish. The hair stood up on the back of their necks when they watched him command demons. It was real wasn’t it? I mean, we experienced it first hand. So how did we end up here?

I wonder if you can see yourself in the disciples predicament. I’m curious if you’ve have had similar conversations as you were locked in the dark recesses of your own thoughts. “I’m afraid that what I experienced wasn’t even God at all.”

For many the day they surrender to God can be an emotional experience filled with goosebumps and tears. Over the next few weeks, months, years they are amazed at the wonders of God’s grace and provision. Miraculous things take place. They couldn’t imagine walking away from these experiences unchanged.  That is until the unthinkable happens.

A family member or friend passes away. Unanswered questions flood your mind and capture your every thought. When spoken out-loud the answeres that are offered aren’t really answers but excuses or you are shunned for asking them in the first place. You come to a new understanding of a strongly felt belief and the church rejects you. You come to a new understanding of yourself and the church rejects you. Injustice, hatred, cruelty, gossip, and greed all on display. And the ones practicing these acts ought to know better. They’re Christians after all.

“What if what I experienced wasn’t even God at all.”

These are the events that create exiles today. This is my story. I bet I’m not the only one.

…to be continued.

It really doesn’t matter how long you have been living in exile or even the reason you exiled yourself in the first place. One day sometime ago you left but you didn’t leave empty handed. You packed your bags with whatever made you leave and you started walking.

You may have wandered from church to church or left church entirely. But wherever you went you dragged those bags behind you like a world traveler. And as long as you do you’ll never be home.

In this instance I’m referring to a local spiritual community. A place where you can be yourself with all of your doubts, hurts, and reservations. A place where you can seek God in your own way and God can continue to seek you in his.

We’re not much different than the Jews returning to Jerusalem from exile themselves. They sort of returned but not completely. Built a temple but they never rebuilt the city. I don’t know why. Perhaps they were afraid it wouldn’t last. I mean, it didn’t the last time. The Babylonians came through and ruined everything. What’s to stop it from happening again. Whatever the reason they weren’t really home. They were living out of their baggage from the past unable to really be home.

If we want to try this “church” thing again we have to be willing to rebuild regardless of the fear that it might not last.

We can rediscover the glory and remove the garbage.  We can build a place where people are free to be themselves as God created them while they are discovering that he isn’t done with them yet. We can create an environment in our churches where grace trumps gossip and love is the only motivation. We can be the church we thought had long been destroyed.

We can return home but only if we’re willing to unpack our baggage.

Are you currently in exile?

In 597 BCE the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the Jews were kicked out of there homeland. It wasn’t until 538 BCE, after the Persians had conquered the Babylonians, that the Jews were released to return home.

I see a lot of similarities with many Christians and the exiled Jews. Thus my original question. Are you currently in exile?

What was your Babylonian invasion? Church politics, injustice, doubts and uncertainty, burn-out? What’s the thing or things that caused you to become jaded and cycnical towards the church?

I believe there are a lot of Christians that are longing to return to something they once believed so strongly in. They want to go home but aren’t sure if they can with what they know now. They don’t want to go back to any one particular church but back to a God seeking community that can understand where they’ve come from.

My guess is there are groups of individuals in every country, city, and town who are living in exile. We need to find each other.

The Exchange is one of those places where these exiles are trying to find there way back home. If you are in the Cleveland, TN area you should join us. If not, I strongly believe there are more people just like you in your area.

Don’t give up. Home is much closer than you realize.

It looks like Pat Robertson is at it again. He recently made some remarks about the Broncos picking up Peyton Manning and how he felt they treated Tebow poorly. In his remarks he said that if Manning were to aggravate his injury it would serve them right. In his mind, if this would occur, it might be God dealing out justice for the “shabby” treatment of this “upstanding Christian athlete”.

This wouldn’t be the first time that many think Pat is giving Christians a bad name. He’s said all kinds of awful things that are just complete garbage. And because he is somewhat visible, it gets talked about a lot and those of us who follow Christ have to explain to those we have contact with that He doesn’t speak for all of Christianity. In fact he doesn’t speak for most of Christianity.

Now whether you think what Pat said about Manning was in horrific bad taste or just another innocuous rambling of a crazy old man, he isn’t the one who does the most damage. The person who hurts what people think about Christianity most, Christianity’s biggest spokesperson is…you…and me.

Last month as I was watching the Super Bowl I was joking calling for the injuries of the opposing team. The joke is simple, less good players on the field the easier for my team to win. Now I didn’t really want anyone to get hurt but maybe even in my joking I wasn’t representing God the best that I could.

Last year when it came out that we had finally found and killed Osama Bin Laden I was shocked at all the Christians cheering and celebrating on Facebook. It doesn’t matter whether you believe he got what he deserved or not, no ones death, torture, or misfortune should be celebrated. Especially not by Christians.

Lets get back to Mr. Robertson. It’s easy to write him off as a kooky extremist. Maybe even a fringe caricature of Christian extremists. In heated conversations people might throw him at you as an indictment on Christianity but they don’t really believe we’re all like that.

Now what about you? You’re just an every day Jane or Joe. You work a job, maybe go to school, and hangout at your favorite establishments. Perhaps you go to church once or twice a week but you’re hardly an extremist. Most people, even if they don’t believe like you, think you are a sincere individual. What do people think when that Facebook status celebrating the misfortune of another shows up in their stream?

You are much more influential to the people you come in contact with than Pat Robertson. You are real, everyday Christianity. You are, regardless of what people say, what people think of when they picture Christianity. You are changing their perceptions, for better or for worse.

Everyday as I wait for the elevator at work I’m greeting by the sign above. It’s there to offer people a safer alternative “if” there should be a fire. The sad thing is I know far to many people who view their relationship with God as if it serves the same purpose.

In case of Hell use God. We’ve been told all our lives that Hell is a scary place. Whether it be our overactive imaginations as we try to comprehend the symbolism of Revelation, 0r the gruesome detail that Dante put into his nine circles.  Wherever you got your description of Hell I can bet it wasn’t pleasant.

But fear of Hell is a terrible reason to follow God for many reasons.

First, it only causes resentment.

If you’ve ever known anyone in an abusive relationship than you know exactly what I’m talking about. They stay in the relationship only for fear of what might happen if they leave. In the end they resent not only the abuser but also themselves for allowing themselves to be in this situation in the first place and less strength to fix it with each passing day. They are dying inside everyday but they keep telling themselves it’s better than the alternative. But it isn’t.

If this is how you truly see God, if the Gospel has been reduced to, “Good news, you don’t have to burn for eternity!”, then you are in an abusive relationship with God. This isn’t your fault, but it isn’t God’s fault either. This is the result of years of bad teaching.

Jesus didn’t give his life and ask you to do the same just so you wouldn’t eventually suffer but so you could finally live.

Second, it’s completely self-centered.

My guess is that few subscribe to the idea that we obey the law to avoid going to prison. Sure prison would be awful but that’s not why most of us do it. We obey the law because it’s right. It’s better for everyone if we obey the law. It’s part of being a good citizen. Not driving recklessly protect me and you.

To many of us see salvation and the Gospel as something that happens to us later. It’s just a deposit into the afterlife. Do good now so that good can happen to me later. But that’s not the Gospel at all. The Gospel is right here, right now. Life and life more abundantly doesn’t just begin when you die. It starts right now. And it doesn’t only impact you. It impacts everyone you come in contact with. The kingdom of God is here but if Hell is your only motivation I fear you’ve still standing at it’s borders.

Jesus didn’t give his life and ask you to do the same just so you wouldn’t eventually suffer but so you would finally live. And so the world would be better by your living.

Finally, it’s not really possible.

A true relationship with God is based on affection, respect and admiration not out of fear. God has great affection for us, came to us, died for us, and lives in us. We love him because he first loved us, not because we think he’s hanging the threat of Hell over our heads if we don’t. We’re hung up on Hell while God is hung up on us. We’re striving to live forever while he is trying to get us to live right now. If we can figure this out, forever will take care of itself.

If you can look at your life and say that you’re following God only because Hell is far to terrifying then I want you to know that God has something better in mind. You probably find your relationship with God hallow, sad, and stressful. That is not God’s design as far as I can tell. I can’t flip a switch and make it right. I can simply shine the light and hope that you will no longer be content when there is much better available. I can tell you you’re not alone and that there are many who would love to take this journey with you.

Jesus didn’t give his life and ask you to do the same just so you wouldn’t eventually suffer but so you would finally live. And so the world would be better by your living. This is the Gospel.