Identity Crisis (pt. 2)

When last we left our intrepid essayist, he was fighting off a horde of wagon salesmen who were scrambling for their government bailouts…..oh wait, that was that guy in Washington. Never mind…..

As I was saying, words mean things. A name should tell us something significant about its bearer. A refocused church needs a name that indicates that it is refocused.

So what are we to focus on?

There’s a video that plays frequently during Sunday morning services. It is intended to welcome newcomers and assuage any fears they might have about this motley bunch of Jesus freaks amongst whom they now find themselves seated. A line from it says something like this: “We’re not asking you to change your beliefs before attending our church. We’re simply inviting you on a journey toward Jesus.”

That’s where we all are. On a journey. Some of us are looking for Jesus.

Some of us are a whole lot closer than others. Jesus once told a questioning scholar, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” This was a guy who was on the road and headed in the right direction. Jesus told another guy, a rich dude who seemed to be doing everything right, “You are lacking one thing.” That guy turned away, headed in the wrong direction. One man ran away from Him naked. A woman came crawling to him through a crowd. Yet another tried to drive Him away with demonic yelling and tantrums. An immoral woman was dragged and slung to the ground in front of Him. Another met Him at the local watering hole.

These people all had one thing in common: at one point, they were all headed toward Him.

We can deduce that people are either headed toward Jesus, or they are headed away from Him. All points away from Jesus lead to death, but there’s only one way to life.

And it’s our job to help guide people toward Him. The speed of travel doesn’t really matter. The direction of travel is everything. I can’t move very fast anymore (unless I’m on my bike), so you may be able to run me down. That’s ok. I will move at my own speed. I’ll get there soon enough. Maybe you’ll get there first. Maybe I’ll catch up with you. It doesn’t really matter, as long as we are moving in the same direction.

George Harrison, no Christian theologian, nonetheless made a very valid point when he sang, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” I wrote a song several years ago about a journey. “If you don’t have a map or a guide to lead the way, you could end up stranded on a lonesome highway.”

We have a map. It’s called God’s Word.

We have a guide. His name is Jesus.

If we display our map in our lives, the strong possibility exists that we may be given the opportunity to introduce our Guide to fellow travelers. There’s safety in numbers. The more of us there are headed in the same direction, the less likely it is that one or more of us gets stranded. Traveling companions help to keep each other on the road. This journey isn’t meant to be made alone.

As with any journey, from time to time we need to stop for refreshment, for refueling, for rest. Travel any highway for any length of time and you’ll come upon a rest area. Just in time, too….I need to unload that 44 oz. Diet Coke I had about 44 exits back. This is why we come to ‘church.’ (Read Part 1 for my treatment of the word ‘church.’) We are refreshed, refueled, rested, and we can continue the journey. The journey isn’t about a place. It’s about the trip. If it was about the place, we’d call it a destination.

There is no destination when we travel toward Jesus. (My holiness professor might like that line.)

Not this side of Heaven, anyway.

So, if this walk with/toward Jesus isn’t about ever actually getting there, but is all about what happens on the way there, why do we say things like ‘go to church?’ Doesn’t that confuse the issue?

I mean, if we tell people they need to ‘go to church’ to get their lives right, what’s so magical about a building that it has the power to change lives? No building can do that. Only a God can transform people.

And He doesn’t need a building to do it.

He does His work when we are moving toward Him, seeking Him, asking Him, calling out to Him.

And He continues His work as we continue to move toward Him.

Jesus told His followers He had no place of His own to lay His head. He was always traveling.

On a journey.

A journey towards God.

What a remarkable name for a church.