The Other Side of "In But Not Of"

 

I have found a word that describes an experience that is satisfying and pleasant for introverts like me, but which is something to be avoided when thinking about a faith community most commonly referred to as a church.

In The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, John Koenig invented the word midding.

midding - n. the tranquil pleasure of being near a gathering but not quite in it  -  hovering on the perimeter of a campfire, talking quietly outside a party, resting your eyes in the back seat of a car listening to friends chatting up front  -  feeling blissfully invisible yet still fully included, safe in the knowledge that everyone is together and everyone is okay, with all the thrill of being there without the burden of having to be.

As I said, I am an introvert and I can absolutely relate to being "blissfully invisible" and yet still feeling accepted and included. To have people I love and care about enjoying themselves nearby without me having to actually be involved in any informal conversation sounds like a piece of paradise.

But what if I'm satisfied "hovering on the perimeter" of a group that Jesus commands me to love in the same way he loves me? What if I'm satisfied being associated with a church but not truly connected? What if I'm inoculated with an appearance of Christianity but haven't really contracted the full "disease"?

It's been said that disciples of Jesus are in the world but not of the world; of a necessity, we eat, breathe, and do business in society-at-large, but our deeper identity is rooted in a relationship with Jesus. I wonder how many folks have flipped that concept on its ear and are in the church but not of it.

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Truth is...Being devoted to one another in love (Romans 12:10) involves more than being a spectator. Adopt me into your family, Father God. Implant me into your body, Lord Jesus. Energize me with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, Holy Spirit.

This Is Not Your Final Scene

 

2001: A Space Odyssey is considered one of the most influential science fiction films ever made and is often ranked as one of the top 10 movies of all genres.

But it didn't start out like that.

MGM executives had green-lit a series of costly flops in the 1960s and their collective careers were riding on the success of this new movie by Stanley Kubrick. The expectations were high, but when they saw the first cut of 2001, with its extended silent scenes and challenging narrative scope, those expectations were dashed to pieces.

Still, money had been spent and marketing launched, so the film was completed and premiered April 2, 1968.

“That evening, the film opened at the Loew’s Capitol Theatre on Broadway in New York with the cast and crew in attendance. It was an invitation-only affair, and the theatre was crammed with 1,500 of the ‘best people’: mid-level to senior MGM staff and such celebrities as Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Henry Fonda....

"The middle-aged audience was puzzled, edgy, derisive, and finally outright hostile. There were boos, hisses, and catcalls....

“Kubrick had posted an aide at the entrance to count the walkouts. It began as a trickle, escalating to a river and then a flood during the intermission. By the end, 241 walkouts had been recorded — more than one-sixth of the audience. One of those was Arthur C. Clarke who, although having seen the film already, was by now humiliated, disappointed, and close to tears. As he left the theatre, Clarke said he’d overheard an MGM suit pontificating: ‘Well, that’s the end of Stanley Kubrick.’” (Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, Kubrick: An Odyssey)

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Truth is...Maybe you're in a situation where you feel misunderstood or rejected. Take heart. This is not the final frame of your life's movie or the final chapter of your story, and Jesus is not walking out on you. "I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Jesus, Matthew 28:20)

Hammer Time, or, Dear God, Make Me What You Want Me to Be

 

At this point in history, Carl Sandburg is probably most well-known for calling Chicago the City of the Big Shoulders; "Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler."

But I recently learned about another poem of his titled "Prayers of Steel." It's as if steel is lifting its voice to Yahweh, and it resonates with my decidedly non-metallic soul.

Lay me on an anvil, O God.
Beat me and hammer me into a crowbar.
Let me pry loose old walls.
Let me lift and loosen old foundations.  

Lay me on an anvil, O God.
Beat me and hammer me into a steel spike.
Drive me into the girders that hold a skyscraper together.
Take red-hot rivets and fasten me into the central girders.
Let me be the great nail holding a skyscraper through blue nights into white stars.

This seems to echo Adelaide Potter in the hymn, "Have Thine Own Way, Lord":

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after thy will,

while I am waiting, yielded and still.

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Truth is...Sandburg's words are grittier and a more realistic image of what it can be like to be fashioned into an effective disciple of Jesus. God's refining work on my life won't always be easy or painless, but the results will be a life of strength and usefulness.

Freedom Is Really Just Switching Masters

 

In the motion picture, The Patriot, Mel Gibson's character is contemplating whether to join his neighbors in the Revolutionary War against England; whether he wants to risk his life and property to gain freedom.

His concept of freedom, and his desire for it, leads him to say, "Would you tell me please, Mr. Howard, why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man's rights as easily as a king can."

I get a similar feeling from Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody":

You may be an ambassador to England or France

You may like to gamble, you might like to dance

You may be the heavyweight champion of the world

You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody

It may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody

Even Jesus has a car in this train of thought:

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24 NIV)

Truth is...When Jesus said that the truth would set you free (John 8:32), he meant you would be free from the tyrannical rule of sin. Paul put it well in Romans 6:19-23...

I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.