Holidays
July 28th, 2008
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Greetings. I am on Holidays for a couple weeks, but I just wanted to say, “Thanks!” for stopping by. I will be backposting the sermons from last year as time permits. I started the series “Jesus Words” in 2007, so you will get the whole story…
I tend to post replies on other blogs, rather than doing a lot of rambling on this one. Here is one such post:
One guy’s blog:
A guy walks along a dirt road and happens to fall into a deep hole.
A Catholic happens to be walking by and says, “You’ve fallen into a hole. That’s a shame. You must have done something wrong and God is punishing you.” So he leaves.
A Protestant happens to be walking by and sees the guy in the hole. “Providence put you there so you must be needing to learn something from this.” So he leaves.
An evangelical happens to be walking by and asks, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?”
“Yes,” the man responds.
“Great,” the evangelical responds and leaves.
An atheist walks by and sees the guy in the hole. He reaches down and pulls the guy out.
I want to be like the one who pulls the guy out of the hole.
A Catholic happens to be walking by and says, “You’ve fallen into a hole. That’s a shame. You must have done something wrong and God is punishing you.” So he leaves.
A Protestant happens to be walking by and sees the guy in the hole. “Providence put you there so you must be needing to learn something from this.” So he leaves.
An evangelical happens to be walking by and asks, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?”
“Yes,” the man responds.
“Great,” the evangelical responds and leaves.
An atheist walks by and sees the guy in the hole. He reaches down and pulls the guy out.
I want to be like the one who pulls the guy out of the hole.
I get the parable of the Good Samaritan, but I get tired of blogs that constantly talk about what the church is doing wrong, how the church has failed a person, how “we’ve” gotten off the path. That seems to be a shame based approach to me. I look for blogs that talk about what is going right, or alternatives to the traditional church that is working well, the strengths upon which we can build. And just because something is working for someone somewhere, that still doesn’t mean it will work for me, whether it is Willow Creek Seeker stuff of yesteryear, or Emergent relational stuff from today. God has called me to a place and time, and that is the context within I work.
So, I added my story:
A guy walks along a dirt road and happens to fall into a deep hole.
A Catholic happens to be walking by and says, “You’ve fallen into a hole. That’s a shame. You must have done something wrong and God is punishing you.” So he pulls the guy out of the hole.
Another guy walks along a dirt road and happens to fall into a deep hole.
An emerging church guy jumps in the hole (with several of his buddies) and says, “Let’s just talk about this and when you’re ready we’ll make a human pyramid and help each other get out.
An evangelical happens to be walking by and asks the guys as he weaves some bark into a rope, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?”
“Yes,” they all respond.
“Great,” the evangelical responds and helps them all get out, after some discussion about traditional churches, house churches, and love. He stays as the others leave and thinks he should put up some warning signs. As he is trying to prop one up in front some rowdy teens come by after late night drinking at a prom party and push him in, laughing as they take off.
A spaced out celebrity overdue for rehab and also an atheist walks by and sees the guy in the hole. He says, “Bummer of an evolutionary branch, dude!” He then gets distracted by a pretty bird and wanders off.
Then there’s this guy that is not much different than everyone else. He happens to be an engineer, a follower of Jesus, just trying the best he can in life. He looks in the whole and asks, “Do You want to get out?” After an affirmative reply he asks, “Hey, can you swim?” After getting another affirmative reply he makes a trench from a nearby river that fills the hole with water, allowing the man to float to the top and get out. They go off together and get a coffee and decide to subscribe to each others’ blog.
Then a lady walks along who can’t swim….
I’m just glad I can walk down the road!
A Catholic happens to be walking by and says, “You’ve fallen into a hole. That’s a shame. You must have done something wrong and God is punishing you.” So he pulls the guy out of the hole.
Another guy walks along a dirt road and happens to fall into a deep hole.
An emerging church guy jumps in the hole (with several of his buddies) and says, “Let’s just talk about this and when you’re ready we’ll make a human pyramid and help each other get out.
An evangelical happens to be walking by and asks the guys as he weaves some bark into a rope, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?”
“Yes,” they all respond.
“Great,” the evangelical responds and helps them all get out, after some discussion about traditional churches, house churches, and love. He stays as the others leave and thinks he should put up some warning signs. As he is trying to prop one up in front some rowdy teens come by after late night drinking at a prom party and push him in, laughing as they take off.
A spaced out celebrity overdue for rehab and also an atheist walks by and sees the guy in the hole. He says, “Bummer of an evolutionary branch, dude!” He then gets distracted by a pretty bird and wanders off.
Then there’s this guy that is not much different than everyone else. He happens to be an engineer, a follower of Jesus, just trying the best he can in life. He looks in the whole and asks, “Do You want to get out?” After an affirmative reply he asks, “Hey, can you swim?” After getting another affirmative reply he makes a trench from a nearby river that fills the hole with water, allowing the man to float to the top and get out. They go off together and get a coffee and decide to subscribe to each others’ blog.
Then a lady walks along who can’t swim….
I’m just glad I can walk down the road!
The picture at the top is from my twin brother Dan, who is with Wycliffe Translators in Cameroon. They get some big holes…
Hope you are having a wonderful summer.
Categories: Christ-likeness, emerging church, kingdom
