Pushing the Envelope

I read a great tweet on twitter the other day that really made me chuckle and think. No matter how much you push the envelope, it will still be stationary. What a great play on words! It is funny in the church today that we get so excited to "push the envelope". This entails making some changes or implementing something new, but not so different or new that it ruffles too many existing feathers. If only a few feathers are ruffled and there appears to be success, we are heralded and the rest go on feeling good about themselves but the problem is you are most likely still in the envelope, though it may be a touch bigger from the pushing and stretching. If too many feathers are ruffled or the idea doesn’t pan out we are told we pushed the envelope too far. Then we tend to say the ruffled feathers weren't spiritual enough or don't see the need.

To really experience deep spiritual growth and make a huge impact in the world, we need to do more than just push the envelope. We need to bust it wide open. The envelope is too small. We need a cargo container, and even that is too small to hold God! The traditions of yesterday have, in large part, lost their meaning and usefulness. They now serve to pad us from the discomfort of the unfamiliar and our own rough edges more often than not. If we are going to carry out Jesus' last command to us before ascending to Heaven, we need to stop being stationary, both figuratively and literally, and get radical. As we follow Jesus, we need to take a no holds barred look at fighting the schemes of Satan and bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God to our world.

Being Genuine Leads to Being Relevant

No matter what industry or social group you find yourself a part of these days there are buzz words. In the advertising world they look at what is fresh and exciting. In the consumer arena we want more bang for our buck. Even churches, especially church leaders, have some buzz words. One of the most prevalent today is relevant. By looking at brochures and e-mails that come my way for conferences and meetings, it seems everyone is looking to help us become relevant. Relevant is an adjective and is defined as "bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand; pertinent".

Many churches and their leaders are evaluating to see if their ministry is relevant. Many individual Christians are asking themselves if their personal testimony and ministry is relevant. While this is a very important evaluation which needs to take place often personally and corporately, we want to make sure our focus is not on the buzz word instead of what it means. There are people who seem to be more interested in being labeled relevant than doing what the Lord has equipped and prepared them to do and actually meeting the needs of the people around them. Some look at relevance as fitting in. I look at relevance as seeing the current issues and needs and allowing the Lord to use me to address those situations and meet those needs. Let's explore a few things about being relevant.

The Crucible of Life

I don't know much about precious metals, other than they make men do some pretty crazy things. One thing I do know about precious metals is they are mined. They are dug out of the earth. The interesting thing is the ore that is mined out of the earth is not pure. There's all sorts of impurities mixed in with the precious metal. No matter how clean it may look, there are impurities that need to be removed from the ore before it can be used. The most common way to purify ore into a precious metal is by refining it with fire. The ore is heated to a molten state in a crucible where the impurities float to the top of the liquefied ore. The impurities, called dross, are then skimmed off the top and discarded. After this, the whole process starts over until the desired level of purity is attained. You can never get a bar of precious metal 100% pure. There will always be a little impurity left, no matter how much it is refined.

Malachi, the Old Testament prophet, relays the word of the Lord to us. In chapter 3 he speaks of the refiner's fire. He speaks of the coming Messiah, and His judgment. He speaks specifically of the Levites being refined in the refiner's fire so they can offer a sacrifice in righteousness. I believe this passages of scripture, as all passages of scripture, can be applied to our lives today. Obviously Malachi is not advocating that the Priests be placed in crucibles and placed in an oven heated to thousands of degrees to be purified. He is saying that the Lord will be like a refiner's fire. He will do the purifying. He will skim the dross off that floats to the top and discard it.