The Way
From the Series—Jesus
September 23, 2002In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way.” If you want to understand “The Way” you’ve got to look not just at “what” Jesus said, but “the way” He said it. You’ve got to look not just at “what” Jesus did, but “the way” He did it. Here are a few observations about “the Way.”
Expect the Unexpected
Last week’s evotional highlighted how counterintuitive Jesus was. He said, “The first shall be last.” “The greatest among you is the servant of all.” “Love your enemies.” “Turn the other check.” “Pray for those who persecute you.” “Whoever saves his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will save it.”
But Jesus wasn’t just counterintuitive. He was downright unpredictable. Read the gospels and it’s amazing how paradoxical and unconventional and even irreligious Jesus is. He breaks the Sabbath. He hangs out with “sinners.” He rebukes the religious types and turns prostitutes and tax collectors and Samaritans into heroes. You never know what he’s going to do next. He disappears when the crowds want to crown him King yet walks right into Jerusalem when the Pharisees are trying to kill him. Eventually, you just learn to expect the unexpected. Jesus is predictably unpredictable!
There is part of us that wants predictability, familiarity, stability. But that’s not what Jesus offers us. As John Chancellor said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” “The Way” is full of surprises!
Control Issues
A few years ago, a priest named Henri Nouwen went through a mid-life crisis. During the crisis he prayed, “Lord, show me where you want me to go and I will follow you.” He felt like God said, “Go and live among the poor in spirit, and they will heal you.”
To make a long story short, Henri Nouwen left a professorship at Harvard University where he taught some of the best and brightest minds in the world to work with the mentally handicapped at the Daybreak Community in Toronto, Canada.
Nouwen said that he thought getting older and more mature meant “more and more control.” He found that the exact opposite is true! He said, “When I entered the community with mentally handicapped people all controls fell apart, and I came to realize that every day was full of surprises--often surprises I was least prepared for.” When someone disagreed with what Henri Nouwen said, they didn’t wait until he was done speaking. They just interrupted him. It didn’t matter that he had written books. None of them could read. It didn’t matter that he’d taught at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard. None of them had been to college.
Nouwen says, “Without realizing it, the people I came to live with made me aware of the extent to which my leadership was still a desire to control. It took me a long time to feel safe in this unpredictable climate, and I still have moments in which I want to clamp down and tell everyone to shut up, get in line, listen to me, and believe in what I say. But I am also getting in touch with the mystery that leadership means to be led.”
Galatians 5:25 says, “Let us keep in step with the Spirit.” “The Way” is a willingness to be led by the Spirit--to do whatever, wherever, whenever God calls us. Even when he calls us from a Harvard to a Daybreak!
Most of us want “more and more control.” We like predictable places and predictable people. But “The Way” is about “less and less control.” We learn to let go and let God. We enter into the mystery of being led by the Spirit. Oswald Chambers said, “To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth.”
On September 8th, NCC went to three services in two theaters at Union Station. In some ways, it feels like we are spinning out of control. Logistically, we’re setting up two churches now instead of one! But I’ve learned that when I feel like I’ve got everything under control, I’m usually not where God wants me to be. It’s when I feel like things are spinning out of control that God is at work!
Movement vs. Religion
Here’s one more observation about “the Way.” Jesus was always on the move. He is crossing lakes on boats, walking through the wilderness, hiking up into the mountains. You never know where he’s going next. According to Joseph Girzone, Jesus logged over 6,000 miles during his three-year ministry.
The early church followed suit. Acts 9:2 says the church was simply known as “the way.” It was always on the move. Part of the reason was persecution. They needed to be a “moving target.” But it kept the church flexible and portable and adaptable.
In his book, Unfreezing Moves, Bill Easum makes a distinction between religions and movements. He says, “Movements are very different from institutions. Christianity must once again become a movement. The Acts of the Apostle portray Christianity more as a movement than a religion.”
If you look at the Old Testament, you’ll find that the people of God were mobile. They followed the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Just as our NCC setup team turns the movie theaters @ Union Station into a church each week, the Israelites would setup and tear down their tabernacle every time the Ark of the Covenant moved.
Easum says, “The twenty-first century congregation is becoming mobile again. Property is looked upon the same way the Israelites looked upon the Ark of the Covenant--it is something to be picked up and moved to wherever God is leading you.”
The Edifice Complex
Easum goes on to talk about “the edifice complex.” He says, “During the twentieth century, property and place were of extreme importance.” But there is a new breed of churches emerging in the new millennium.
He says, “In this time of traumatic transition, we see institutional Christianity being left behind because it is tethered to its physical moorings and can’t join Jesus on the way. In its place we see the rise of House Churches, Storefront Churches, Cell Churches, Cyber Churches, Café Churches, Bar Churches, Multiple-site churches, and Biker Churches.” I’d add Theater Churches to the mix! Easum says, “What do these ministries have in common? They are able to pick up and move with Jesus the moment he moves. They are not tethered to place, property, and tradition.”
Occasionally, someone will ask me when NCC is going to get it’s own building. The unspoken sentiment is that you aren’t a “real church” until you have a church building. My first thought is, “Have you seen our building?” We’ve got nine theaters, forty food court restaurants right outside our front door, and our own metro system. We’ve got our own railroad for that matter! Who could ask for anything more? Why would we want a “church” when we’ve got this? Close to 100,000 people pass through Union Station everyday!
God has strategically positioned NCC where the “highways and byways” intersect. Union Station is known as “the gateway to the nation’s capital.” That’s exactly where we want to be!
Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with church buildings. But I see an interesting trend. A few weeks ago a pastor called me and said they are selling their $1.5 million church building and starting over in a movie theater! Churches used to try to get out of rented facilities and into permanent buildings. Some churches are now doing the exact opposite. They are getting out of permanent buildings and moving into rented facilities.
Leave a Trail
In Matthew 15:3, Jesus rebukes the religious types. He says, “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” When manmade tradition supersedes the commands of God you’ve crossed a line. Tradition is doing what you’ve always done simply because it’s what you’ve always done. Someone has said that the seven last words of the church are, “We’ve never done it that way before.”
“The Way” is full of surprises. It is expecting the unexpected. It is saying flexible and mobile and adaptable! In the words of Gerard Kelly, we need to “give up religion and inherit the wind.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Do not go where the path may be. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.” That’s exactly what Jesus did. He is the Way! Let’s follow in his footsteps!