My System for Loving God

Spend a few days with me and you'll find out I am a systematic person.

Not naturally, however. Not like Sharon Mattson, who just automatically does things in order.

No, all my systems are constructed. And I follow them religiously. Otherwise, I pay the price, as does everyone in my path: anarchy followed closely by chaos.

So a hard question for me is, What is my "system" for loving God?

Not thinking rightly about God. Not fulfilling my vocation in ministry for God. But loving God.

In the Bible I find that loving God has a lot to do with transparency, repentance and obedience.

It's also about having a sensitive and soft heart toward God.

I recently wrote this in my journal:

"Do I regularly repent and believe, or is Christian faith, for me, merely a system (or metasystem) for 'doing life well,' the ultimate utility?"

 Fellow systematizers, beware.

On Going to Church Twice a Month

You have no idea of the temptations I face Sunday mornings, especially in the summer.

In the few weeks of pleasant weather Minnesota affords in this season, it is vitally important that I squeeze in all the golf I can.

Because soon I'll be back in jail: Minnesota winter.

Plus, most of the golf I play at my club involves outreach to some salty characters who could use a good dose of Jesus in their lives. I love these guys and feel called to them. Often.

So that leaves me with about two Sundays/month for church attendance between May and October. And that's not even factoring in excursions out of town with family and friends.

But wait a second. There's actually a different way to do church, different from what I've said above.

And that is to place it at the head of the line -- the top of the priority list -- before golf and all the other distractions which I so easily justify.

This prioritizing is what Sharon and I have tried to do.

Not that we never miss church. We do, on occasion.

But worship and fellowship with God's people --  with "our" God's people, where we find our sense of Christian identity and place of service -- is indispensable for the Christian life. We cannot live (properly) without it.

I have no interest in turning this principle into a legality.

But the spirit of the thing, the spirit of active participation, of being there -- yes, even of some sense of duty (an old fashioned word that I hope will make a comeback), is what really counts.

I hope to see you in the house of God this weekend.

Steady as She Goes

My friend Gary and I were talking the other day about the value of being steady.

As a businessman, Gary has seen many of the young ones attempt to make their millions overnight. They flash impressively for short sprints but have no endurance for the long run.

Contrast that with my buddy Jeff, who's been in ministry at a large university for decades.

No one would accuse Jeff of being flashy.

Rather, he is humble, consistent, understated . .  . and, most importantly: effective. He's pushing 60 and still delivers the goods. His restrained newsletters seem to under-sell the ministry while still celebrating God's work.

I wish to emulate Jeff.

Friends, which will it be for us: Fast and flashy? Or faithful and steady?

Sprinter or marathoner?

The Law Requires. . .

I'd like to share with you one of my primary internal commands (command to self):

Rick, you are supposed to be busy, productive, responsible and well-rounded.

These aspirations require that I run pretty fast in life. 

Why do I do it?

The answer is not hard to find. But it is hard to admit: I must accomplish all these things in order to fulfill the law and be justified.

If you are a New Testament believer, you'll find this sort of justification, when it is named in such an obvious way, off-putting.

So do I.

Yet, the desire to fulfill the law, whether that of Mt. Sinai or another source, can be overwhelming.

My spiritual director, Wayne, often asks me why I do things. He doesn't show a lot of concern for the things themselves. He's fine with my being a motivated, productive person. 

He just wants to know what drives me. . . .

It's an on-going conversation. :)

I find this verse to be quite liberating: "We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit" (Rom 7:6).

Perhaps this verse will be an encouragement to you as well, fellow laborers. 


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