Nowhere to Run and Nowhere to Hide

My wife and I belong to one of those members-only 24 hour gyms. The only reason for this is because we can walk there from our house. We figured it was worth spending a little more money for a gym we would actually go to. The front of gym is all glass and from the front windows you can actually see the roof of our house.

This morning I was on the treadmill, right in front of the windows. Headphones on, listening to Rick McKinley, I was doing my best to escape - to get away from the stresses of going to drop off our taxes later this afternoon, from the stresses of things at work, from all those pressures of life.

It didn't work. About 2/3 of the way through my run, as Rick was hitting his stride in what Christian justice looks like, two guys appeared at the corner of the building. They were walking slowly by the gym, looking through the front windows, their breath fogging the glass as they went.

When I saw them, my mind froze. I instantly recognized them as two of our guests from Outreach, we'll call them S & K. They are there constantly, especially in the winter, because it is warm and it gets them off the street. They are regularly intoxicated, and frequently make reference to getting more so with their next stop of the morning. They are salt of the earth guys, hit hard by life and still staggering. I froze because I was afraid they would see me.

You know how little kids think that if they cover their eyes you can't see them? I did the grown-up version of that. The top of the horizon suddenly became very interesting. Nothing could draw my gaze down to their eye level. Nothing except them pulling on the door handle... which, of course, was locked. This is a private gym to keep certain people out, after all. By the time they walked by again, I was done with my run and stretching - safely in the very back of the gym.

Did you ever see one of your teachers outside of school? It was weird. All of a sudden they weren't just a teacher - they were a real person with a whole life before 8 and after 3. You always knew that was the case, but you never had to see it. I knew these guys walked the streets in my neighborhood, but there were places I didn't expect to see it - and I didn't know how to respond.

I couldn't let them in the gym without forfeiting my membership. I didn't have any money to buy them a bagel. I wasn't going to take them back to my house - "Good morning, honey! We have company..." I was completely unprepared and confused. Two parts of my life came crashing together and I didn't know what to do. So, I did nothing.

When Jesus was on earth he fought to have his time of solace and peace. I can say this was that time. But, Jesus also dedicated his entire life to the service of others. He didn't have times when he was on duty and off duty. His mission was a full-time, 24-7 gig. We're called to follow him full-time too; not during business hours, not when its convenient, not when it fits into MY schedule. This is the life I signed up for and I'm still learning what that means.

?%

No, that title is not substituting punctuation for letters that spell something inappropriate. This is a follow-up to yesterday's post about commitment and what we commit to God. There are several other blogs that I read and one of them is about leadership - for church leaders. Recently, I was challenged by a post about the "Final 10%" that I read there. In the post, Craig Groeschel shared that he has been struck by the fact that we often fail to finish strong. We start off strong, we work hard and we might finish the work, we might even do it better than others, but do we give it our all.

90% is more than people often give. For me at least, I can usually give a partial effort and get by. It is rare that I have to devote myself to something 100% for any length of time. Should I continue to skate by on just doing enough, or on doing more than enough but less than my best?

This struck me this week in the area of relationships. When someone is in need, do I make sure they are taken care of or do I make sure they know they are loved? Do I just do enough to make myself look good or do I do so much that I can't do any more?

When I read Paul's words, I get the feeling that he did everything 100%. When he was persecuting Christians it was 100%. When his life changed and he started following Christ, it was 100%. Was he just that kind of guy, or was this a conscious decision he made? Regardless, this is why he was Paul. This is why God used him to change the world.

If I'm going to lead people into creating real, meaningful, intentional relationships, it has to be 100%. I can't settle for the first 90%. I can't just do enough. I can't just care for people or care about people, I have to love them. 100%.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Cor 10:31

Less of Paul, Less of Me

"Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Paul doesn't pull any punches. He doesn't sugarcoat things or break it up into bite-sized pieces. Instead, he lays it right out there. "Nobody." "Whatever you do." He doesn't shy away from saying that this commitment is an all-in commitment. There is no half-way, there is no try. It is classic Paul, bold and straightforward. For him, the Christian life wasn't something you tried. It was something you dove into headfirst. It wasn't something that you got used to, it was something that continually pushed you and stretched you and tested you.

How different is the Christian life we talk about today?

We have our God time and our "me" time and our family time and our work time. Paul only had "God" time. We take God and try to fit him into our lives. Paul radically turned his life upside down when he found God.

Do we do that? Do we challenge others to do that? Where is our passion? Where is our commitment? Where is our lack of self?