Everyone look busy, Jesus is coming

One of the big things I've picked up in this deconstruction and rebuilding is the role you play in being salt and light in the world on your own - in regular life.

I think "we've" sometimes lost that and replaced it with being good at PR or attempting to be influencers for good or for God.

Sure, we can be pointing to good and pointing people to God, but the role of salt and light is to *be* the good and to *be* the presence of God with/for others.

There's a hard limit to "come and see" where a church or churches constantly ask people to "come and see" and the goal is to get someone to church.

The original "come and see" story was about a guy asking another guy to come and see Jesus, not go to a presentation about Jesus like he's a time-share option you could buy.

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One of the stinging lines I saw growing up was "Everyone look busy, Jesus is coming". The idea being that when Jesus comes back, he better find you busy working for him or you'll be in trouble, Buster!!

It was a line that I usually heard from non-church-goers poking fun at the idea that Jesus is like a cranky boss at work who'll yell at you if they find you slackin' - if you got time to lean, you got time to clean!

It was 100% based in things you'd hear "at church" in a sermon or class - the basic idea that busyness and hard work for Jesus was a requirement for pleasing God and getting to heaven.

So there was this dual/opposite message that was always at work - on one hand it was/is "come and see or hear about our wonderful Jesus" and on the other hand it was "Jesus is probably gonna yell at you".

And it's still a kind of convoluted and blurry message today that I see or hear from churches. It's almost as clear and hopeful as those mesothelioma law suit commercials that ran for years.

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I believe it's because we don't know what good news there is to share about or from God.  We aren't sure. It might be good news, but it might also not be fully good news.

And the guys and ladies speaking "at church" don't make it any clearer.  You can't just give the good news without having some dangling thought designed to keep you wondering and coming back next week.

Now of days, there's also all sorts of politics and virtue signaling going on - people trying to stand a certain way so they look good for the right people -- or it is look right for the good people?

So the message can get blurry and chunky in an attempt to be attractive yet not offend any particular special interest group that feels it used to be the target of mean and hurtful church speech in the past.

What can we say to make a strong stand that also allows us to avoid taking any strong stands and thus offending people who might not like strong stands and yet want you to have a strong stand about it?

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It is confusing because churches are stuck on the horns of a dilemma - what can we say that's true and also that will keep people coming back so we can pay the bills and be successful?

Those are, many times, incompatible things. And when they have to pick, they try not to. "Look over here!  Friends, look at this thing!  Hey, let me get your attention with this for a few minutes!"

Like a lot of things in the market place these days, churches can't afford to appear to be out of the loop, but also cannot afford to be too heavily invested in any position for fear of losing any customers.

The more that kind of thing goes on, the worse or more pronounced things get as each concession to avoid hot topics or hard things draws out the reality that you're vulnerable without the free good PR you've had.

At some point, people have to decide what is true and what they believe to their core. Not just about current issues or the flavor of the day, but what is real that I can base my life on.

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Bleh.  Yuck.  Gross.

All that is unnecessary.  (Unless you need to keep the people and money coming in, of course.)

A lot of that kind of thinking and discussing revolves completely around being drawn into a discussion that you don't have to be drawn into.

One of the reasons people don't have peace is because they allow themselves to be drawn into having an opinion about something they really aren't required to have an opinion about.

"Church" and churches are that way because they want you to buy into and/or have an opinion or maybe even a non-opinion about them so as to keep themselves relevant and keep you coming back.

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Jesus, on the other hand, came to bring a new connection, a new promise - and he did it. 

And it's working - all the time - buildings and budgets, not required.

People are regularly being connected to God through Jesus. 

More people hear this good news every day and believe!

Most of the time that is happening because people who know God are out there *being* salt and light, not just talking about it or inviting people to go some place once a week.

And it's happening more than we might think because it's happening in people's hearts and not in a building where it can be counted and added to a spreadsheet.

That is one of the most beautiful things I've learned to see - that God's kingdom exists where he makes it, not just where I can get a good camera angle.

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Jesus is coming!  

Anywhere you go, he is showing up in and through you.

You are salt. You are light. 

He makes you that, not your working to make yourself that. You'll probably mess it up.

Relax and let the love of God shape what's important and worth your time and attention.

When that happens, Jesus is welcomed, not feared, by those who see him in you.

Grace and peace.