the Grapevine 6/18/09

[Mark Jackson]

the Grapevine
June 18, 2009
an e-publication of NewLife Community Church

 

Asking For Directions

 

There's an old cliche about men never stopping to ask for directions... and if you've been around church long enough, you've probably heard the joke that the reason the Israelites wandered in the desert 40 years is because Moses wouldn't get help to find his way.

 

I am, sadly, not an exception to the stereotype (and I proved it once again Wednesday afternoon, when I managed to get lost in Berkeley, CA trying to find I-580.) But we're not recounting how my missed freeway entrance led to an extra 30 minutes of wandering through the nuke-free paradise just north of Oakland... no sirree, Bob. I've got another story to tell.

 

This story also involves getting lost... this time north of Point Reyes Station, CA on Monday. Shari & I just had a wonderful "celebrate 19 years of wedded bliss" trip (man, I love my wife!) to Point Reyes... and one of things I really wanted to do the first day we were up there is go to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. After checking out our cottage, we headed north up Hwy 1... because my (it turns out) faulty memory thought there was a way to get to the National Seashore up there.

 

After driving a good ways along the bay, I began to get that niggling feeling that this wasn't going to work. I wasn't sure I'd gone the wrong way, but I wasn't sure I'd gone the right way, either. When we passed a BBQ oyster bar in Marshall, I decided to stop & ask for directions.

 

Yes, Shari gave me a hard time about this. She's earned the right to do it over the years, what with all the times I've said "I know how to get there" and we've ended up driving through the worst parts of every big city we've ever visited. Scariest "Mark should have asked for directions" moment ever: when we drove by a car on fire in the middle of a rough neighborhood in south Chicago. The car was engulfed in flames and there was a just a crowd of tough guys standing around it, watching it burn. Yikes.

 

Anyway, I go into the oyster bar & ask which way I should be going if I want to get to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. The lady at the counter answered that I should just keep going south past Point Reyes Station and then follow the signs. She even pointed out a map on the wall that helped make it clear.

 

Of course, I'd been driving north... we'd managed to go almost 15 miles the wrong way. So, we turned around, drove back past our cottage, through Point Reyes Station... and, a good while later, all the way to the lighthouse. (The trip down the 308 steps to the lighthouse itself is a story worthy of another post.)

 

Later, I got to thinking about the way the oyster bar lady gave me directions. She easily could have kidded me and/or scolded me about going the wrong way. It wouldn't have taken much to make me feel geographically challenged or just plain stupid. Instead, she simply pointed out the right direction verbally & visually without having to prove that she knew more than I did.

 

And that got me thinking about how we approach people with the truth of the Gospel. I wonder if sometimes we who claim to be followers of Jesus are more interested in proving how right we are than helping people find the way home to God. Are we more likely to point out the bad road that people took to get to this place in their lives or help to light the path that will lead them to a meaningful experience of God's grace & love.

 

I'm not suggesting that we stop talking about sin... that we somehow pretend that the Gospel (literally, the "good news") doesn't flow from the need to deal with the "bad news" of each person's separation from God. What I am suggesting is that real repentance is inspired not by our rehashing the destructive mistakes in a person's past; real repentance happens when a person comes to realize that they are loved by God despite what they've done.

 

Question to ask yourself: do I give spiritual direction based on where people need to go or based on where they've been?

 

Quote of the Week

 

Abandon your lesser visions in favor of living life the way God intended … with one eye on him, one eye on the people he loves, and a heart that beats fast for kingdom-building activity.  Live in light of the reality that the only thing you can take to heaven are the people whose lives you touch!  Throw your one and only life — all of your energies, your resources, your passion — into making a difference with people, and you will one day say, “Now that was a life well-lived!”

     Bill Hybels, Just Walk Across The Room

 

This Week @ NewLife

 

Saturday the 20th

•  9:00 am - Prep Day for VBS

Sunday the 21st

• 9:45 am - Bible Study/Sunday School
• 11:00 am - Worship

Monday the 22nd

• 6:00 pm - Boomerang Express (VBS)
• NO Men's Basketball

Tuesday the 23rd

• NO AM Adults
• 5:15 pm - Weight Watchers (in the senior adult room)
• 6:00 pm - Boomerang Express (VBS)
• NO Softball Practice
• NO Fresno Gamers

Wednesday the 24th

• NO Prayer Gathering
• 6:00 pm - Boomerang Express (VBS)

Thursday the 25th

• 6:00 am - Band of Brothers?
• NO Youth Groups
• 6:00 pm - Boomerang Express (VBS)

Friday the 26th

• 6:00 pm - Boomerang Express (VBS)

Saturday the 27th

• 6:00 pm - Boomerang Express (Parent Night/Carnival)

Sunday the 28th

• 9:45 am - Bible Study/Sunday School
• 11:00 am - Worship
• 6:00 pm - Cool Summer Nights/Baptism