Inching Along

Lifegroup Tuesday. Acts 13. Came across an intriguing fella named Elymas. The description of him was clear, but it appeared to make no sense.

He was a false prophet.

He was a sorcerer.

He was a Jew.

Like the aptitute test that asks "Which of these things is not like the others?" these three descriptors do not go together naturally. Why? Well, the Old Testament clearly states that if you were a Jew, you were not to be a false prophet. The result? Big rocks dropped on ya. How about if you thought sorcery would be a good career choice? Result? Big rocks dropped on ya.

And that got us to thinking about how this could happen. Does a good little Jewish boy just wake up one day and think to himself "Yeah, today it's gonna be sorcery and false prophesying. That's the ticket." And then we asked, "Does the high school teacher arrested for having child porn on his computer just wake up one day and go there and, like, get nabbed right out of the chute?" Probably not. In fact, 15 years ago, if you had told that high school teacher, fresh out of college, that he'd lose his job, his family, his reputation, and his friends doing child porn, he'd have told you you were nuts.

No, the path was probably long and twisting. Long because it took a whole lot of steps to get there. Twisting because each step had to occur with the final destination concealed. Had he seen it coming, he might have changed course. Makes sense. Proverbs tells us that it's the little foxes that ruin the vineyard, not one big fox. Lots of little things add up. Add up for good or for ill. Romans tells us that ending up in a good place is the result of little steps, too--little steps of faith that build on each other.

So, what to do? We sought to evaluate our lives right now. Where are we, in little things, in seemingly inconsequential things, in "what's the big deal?" things, taking little steps leading to righteousness? And where are we, in little things, in seemingly inconsequential things, in "what's the big deal?" things, taking little steps that are taking us to utter destruction currently hidden by the twists in the road?

For some, it was the need to bow a head and pray publicly for that meal in the restaurant. For others, it was talking to that family member who asks the question that forces us to profess what we really believe about Jesus. For me, it was not just saying I'd pray for ya, but actually stopping and doing it. Or, seeing the need of a brother in pain and stopping from my so-called busy schedule to hang out with him at the doc's. A lot of the time, I'm impatient for the big rush, the major accomplishment. But today. . .today some mighty good stuff flowed from what would appear to be just dinky little things.

Liked it enough, I'm thinking about trying a little step of faith again tomorrow. Who knows where this might lead?

Could be bailing someone out of the adult detention center who's taken too few of them, I suppose.



Dwaine Darrah
McLean Campus Pastor

Boldness Revisited

I was out in Indiana a couple of weeks ago. Didn't want to be there. Oh, I like Indiana just fine. All the family is there. But I was in town to do the funeral for Bill, my brother-in-law. Tough stuff. But I find it's easy when I'm doing my "minister" thing to spot the moments for boldness, for speaking out. Like, we couldn't stay with family members because other family was packed in there, so we stayed with John and Jeannie, long-time friends of Bill's. I'm sitting at midnight at the computer working on the funeral message when John walks in and tries to look over my shoulder at what I'm writing. After just standing there for a while, he just says, "Well, I know I'm going to hell." You don't have to be brilliant to know "Hey, here's a opportunity for boldness."

At lifegroup yesterday, we were kicking around Psalm 139 and Ephesians 1 and talking about boldness. Here's another reason to be in lifegroup--my understanding got broadened as we kicked this around. It struck us that boldness might not look the same for everyone. Depending upon how God has fearfully and wonderfully made us, it might look like a funeral message, but it also might look like cooking a meal for a neighbor. It might look like letting someone in front of you in traffic, especially if you've got a fish on your rear fender. It might look like asking if you could pray for someone at work whose family member has taken ill. It might look like offering to babysit a neighbor's kids so they can go out and talk. It might look like paying for another couple's meal that you don't know sitting across the room at a restaurant, or maybe a huge tip to bless the wait staff. Maybe it looks like raking a neighbor's leaves or cutting their grass. Maybe it's saddling up to the outcast at work that no one else likes and being a friend.

Maybe it's not always talking, but maybe it's doing life in a way that will make people ask you what the deal is with you, make them ask why you're different, why you're being nice to them. And when they do, you can talk then.

Ephesians tells us that we've been saved, we've been wiped clean, we've been given the Holy Spirit for a reason, for a purpose, to accomplish an end. And that end is, amazingly, not so we can just do our thing and "be happy.' It's all for the purpose that we would be "to the praise of His glory."

Changes things a bit when you walk out the door in the morning if you consider that your purpose today, no matter what the day holds, is to testify to the glory, the beauty, the majesty, the might, the awesomeness of the One who made you. That testimony can be as varied as the stars, as God has put you together uniquely.

Want to go to sleep tonight fulfilled? Live, exist, operate to bring praise to His glory.

Oh, and have a nice day.


Dwaine Darrah, McLean Campus Pastor

Who You Talking To?

It's Tuesday. It's lifegroup. It's God using His word to give us a little shot across the chops.

Acts 11. Yeah, we were there last week, but at least we're in the second half of the chapter. Now, Peter has just reported to the folk in Jerusalem about this Gentile fella, Cornelius, who has gone and done the unthinkable--accepted Jesus Christ and received the Holy Spirit without becoming a Jew first. How dare he. And even though the Jewish Christians seemed to offer no resistance to Peter's account, it does not seem that they really got what was going on. Why do I think so?

Well, in the very next verse, verse 19 actually, it says that, as the Jewish believers were scattered from Jerusalem because of the persecution there, they ended up in various places--Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch--and purposed to talk to no one except other Jews about Christ. No way they were going to reach out to those dirty Gentiles.

This cycle was amazingly broken by Jewish believers from Cyprus and Cyrene. Those ne'er- do-wells show up in Antioch and started sharing the gospel with the Greeks (a highly classified euphemism for "non-Jews"). Not only that, but a bunch of these "Greeks" accepted Christ, causing such a ruckus that the folk in Jerusalem hear about it and send Barnabas to check it out.

Now, Barnabas is very impressed by what he sees, but he appears very concerned, too, that these new believers might be tempted back to their old ways. Good reason to be worried. Worship of Venus and Apollo in that area included some serious sexual depravity. We found it interesting that, rather than go and report back to Jerusalem what he had seen, Barnabas goes looking for Paul. That verb "look for" doesn't do justice to the sentiment here. It really means that he went searching frantically, like you would if your child got separated from you in the mall. Its the same verb used to describe Mary and Joseph's search for Jesus when he was left behind in Jerusalem. You get the drift. Barnabas was absolutely determined to get Paul, bring him to Antioch, and have him teach these new believers.

There's a lot to glean from this account, but one thing we were challenged with is whether we come to church on Sunday determined to speak only to "jews", i.e., the people we already know, our friends, people we're comfortable with. I read a list of some new people who've been coming to the McLean campus over the last couple of months to see whether everyone in the group knew them. We didn't. So, we challenged ourselves to be about the business on Sunday mornings of reaching outside our circle of friends and to meet anyone whose name and story we don't know.

McLean is a pretty friendly campus, but keeping it that way requires reminding ourselves from time to time what we're all about. How sad would it be if someone walked in who didn't know Christ and is able to walk out not knowing anyone else in the room, either.

So, the goal is to remember this not just next Tuesday, but on Sunday morning at 11:00. Should be fun to see what happens.

By the way, these guys make lifegroup a highlight of the week!! If you're not in one, how much you are missing!!



Dwaine Darrah
McLean Campus Pastor