Spiritual constipation

Yes, I have the thoughts and the feels and all of the things.
It is our busiest time of year at the theatre right now.  Big Fish is running, we're prepping for the next mainstage production (Joyful Noise), camps are running, we're building 3 touring shows, prepping photos for the Black Box show in October and designing Christmas shows- five of them.
Because August y'all.

In the midst of the work crazy-
My heart aches because of the world crazy.
And God continues the quiet and yet roaring revolution in my heart.
And I pray....a lot.  For wisdom, for insight, for movement.
In addition to Isaiah 58- these are the verses that are haunting me now.

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,'

will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but only he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
Many will say to Me on that day,

'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name,

and in Your name drive out demons

and perform many miracles?'

And I will tell them plainly,

I never knew you, 

Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness...

Matthew 7:21-23

Well.

Alrighty then.

This is what I call "the fear of the Lord."

It is terrifying to me that we can think we are doing the will of God- doing what we are supposed to, going to church every time the doors are open, tithing, don't drink, don't chew, don't go with girls that do.  We can be going to Bible study, small group- doing what we think is right- and still miss it.

YIKES.

YIKES.

YIKES.

So how do we know what the will of God is?  Well, we seek Him- and it probably looks a little different for everyone.  But there are some basic things we are ALL called to do- and how we express those things- that may look different- after all, we are a Body made up of many parts and ears and toes don't function in the same way...but there are the basics.

We love God

We love each other.

We pray.

We read.

We take care of the needy.

Oh.

That.

We take care of the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the poor, the elderly, the sick, the prisoner.

Somehow- that needs to be a part of our lives.
Why?
Because God said so.  Repeatedly.

Perhaps you are feeling "stuck" spiritually lately- I get it.  I do.

I had/have been stuck for awhile.

And I am reading books about ordinary people- brothers and sisters in Christ- doing extraordinary and ordinary acts of love all over the place.

All under the radar.

No politics, no yelling, no finger pointing or being right or being self-righteous.

Just people- loving people.  And it's amazing.

And encouraging.

And I am starting out myself- babysteps at this point- but already- I can feel the difference.

I am reading Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne- he's a hoot, y'all.  Give it a whirl.

And he was talking about how churches are losing people, and young people aren't drawn to church anymore.

Of course, there is tons of research about this- articles, blogs, books, blah, blah, blah.

But as I have been reading his book, and Jen Hatmaker's later books and of course, my good fluffy buddy Tozer- this is what I have learned.

The church is losing folks because it is spiritually constipated.

We go to our small groups, we go to Sunday service, we have our quiet times, we navel gaze and speak "christianese" to each other and feel empty.  It's like we are spinning our wheels.  Our schedules are full of church activities and programs and yet our souls are parched.

Do we need all those things?  Yes.

We need to draw near to God- to know Him, to spend time worshiping Him, to be in His presence, to lay our cares and prayers at His feet.
It is important.

But if that's all we are doing....we become stagnant.

Ew.

All the good stuff we feed our souls, just sits there.  And becomes stagnant.

And we get "constipated."

So many times, the Bible talks about the life of God as a river.  It shows up in the Bible, in songs...it's a RIVER. 

RIVERS MOVE.  Things flow through rivers.

Get in the FLOW y'all.

Much better

Sometimes, rivers run rough- there's white water.  Sometimes, it's just a gentle flow.

That seems to me to be much more in tune with how we are meant to live and to be.

If we just pour stuff into ourselves,  but you know what?  Knowledge is not enough.

I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 

may have power together with all the saints, 

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

and to know this love

that surpasses the knowledge of Christ 

and that you may be filled to the measure 

of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17

Y'all.
We have to use it, or we lose it.

If Jesus washed feet, who are we to be better than He is?

We have to get in there and love people- not just for them- for ourselves as well.

So we don't get constipated.

I was marked by an over-consumptive but malnourished spirituality,

suffocated by Christianity but thirsty for God.

Shane Claiborne

We're trying to fill the void with something that will never be sufficient.

There will never be enough knowledge to fill the cracks

of Christian maturity

without the fruit of selfless service

manifested in our lives.

Brandon Hatmaker- Interrupted

Here's the deal.

We are CREATED to share who we are.

That is who we are. 

And we're all unique, some more than others, but we are created to live together.

Not isolated.

We are created to let God flow through our gifts, our personalities and our love to the world around us.

And I don't know if you have noticed, but the world has gone nuts and needs a bit of love.

And God has told us what to do.

If you are angsting over your "call" or your "purpose"- why don't you start with the basics.

SERVE and LOVE those in need.
We are ALL called to do that.  Period.

And it's happening, there is a revolution happening as I type this.

People are loving and serving- without notice, without fanfare- just doing their thing.

That is what it is all about.

Pharisees yell and scream and carry on and jockey for power.  Sound familiar?

Jesus washed feet.  He fed people, He healed people, He listened and told stories and loved.

When we lay our lives down at the cross, we need to pick something up.

What does that mean for you?  

What does that mean for us?
We need each other.

...and I long for those who believe in prayer

to join forces with those who believe in action...

Shane Claiborne

The above statement rocks my world.  It gave me shivers when I read it. I believe in both of those things.
I am excited to see what God is doing in the days and months and years to come.

Don't be discouraged by the political landscape, the hatred and violence, the yelling.
God is bigger.

He can move mountains.
He needs us to do it.

We can do it.
We just need to show up and be willing.

Try it.

Please.

Love is the answer.  Don't let it stagnate in the cistern of your heart.  Don't hoard it.

Let it go.

There's more.