100 Pianos

Every morning, I get a devotional in my mailbox by Tozer. I became a big Tozer reader when I was living and serving at Jesus People USA -- Glenn Kaiser turned me on to his writings. This guy doesn't pull punches; he cuts to the quick.

This morning's devotion really hit home with me. As most of you know, I am part of a "seeker-driven" church and it is our desire that people will find community in each other as they seek relationship with Jesus and will grow in both community and with Christ as a result.

This morning, Tozer showed me a beautiful picture of how true community comes about. I thought I'd share it with you.

Happy Monday. :)

The Church: 100 Pianos

..that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You,that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. --John 17:21

Someone may fear that we are magnifying private religion out of all proportion, that the "us" of the New Testament is being displaced by a selfish "I." Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become "unity" conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life. The Pursuit of God, page 90.

"Lord, let this start with me. Give me a closer walk with You today. Then as a leader enable me to encourage others as well, individually, so that all to whom I minister might be in harmony as we individually are close to You. Amen."

Quote of the Day

"This disparity between economics and justice is an issue of worship. According to the narrative of Scripture, the very heart of how we show and distinguish true worship from false worship is apparent in how we respond to the poor, the oppressed, the neglected and the forgotten."
-Mark Labberton

Blue Like Jazz: The Movie

Blue Like Jazz is definitely one of my favorite books. I have bought extras just to give away. But as a movie? I dunno. Donald Miller is pretty pumped about it. Here's his announcement.

13 JUN 07 Steve Taylor and Ben Pearson have been in Portland for the past week and we’ve pretty much completed the screenplay for Blue Like Jazz the movie. We’ve been working on the script for about a year, either with me flying to Nashville for a week at a time to sit around a table and hash out the story, or with Steve and Ben coming to Portland to stay at my house. When studios became more excited about the screenplay, we felt the need to wrap it up, and in the last few days we’ve pretty much done so. And I dont know if I’ve had more fun, or been more challenged, with any other writing project. I’m excited to see how the guys end up shooting the story.

To say we’ve given the book a Hollywood treatment is an understatement. The book itself would be, of course, difficult to turn into a movie, and so we took creative liberties. But in my opinion, the movie will be infinitely better than the book. Essentially we’ve taken the major, real life characters from the book, and gave them a story all their own. The end result is provocative and humorous and in my opinion quite moving. I cant wait for people to see the film.

We think production will be able to start next year, and the film will be shot on location in Portland. And I am as excited about showing off my town as I am about telling the story. I will keep you posted.

Don

Do Christians love to be hated?

Dan Kimball (I know, I know, I write about him alot, but he is constantly challenging me and stretching me) wrote on his blog about the response that some Christians have to the verses of being hated. "Everyone will hate you because of Me..." (Matthew 10:22) and "Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you." (1 John 3:13). I know (or have known) a lot of Christians that use these scriptures when they are rejected by nonbelievers and they just seem to shrug it off or, even worse, wear it as some sort of martyr badge. To me, it just always seemed like an excuse -- I mean, what do you expect when you walk up to a complete stranger and shove a tract into their hands about sin and hell and smile at them and say "God loves you". I'd be like uh, thanks, buddy, but no thanks. Kimball asks some great questions and offers some of his insights. I've posted some of the questions he's posed. You can read his take on answering them here:

http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2007/06/do-some-christi.html

Is it the gospel that is rejected
or is it the personality of the Christian and the evangelistic approach that is
being rejected and "hated"?

With this view, people skills then don't make too much
difference or matter a ton. Our tone of voice or how argumentative we are
doesn't make a difference. When and how we share about the gospel doesn't make a
difference - as long as we feel we said it and got it out. So when we have
people respond back that they don't want to hear it - then we feel we are simply
fulfilling what Jesus said about being "hated" and we can run back to our
Christian circles feeling like we have done our duty and the Lord must be
pleased as we are "hated" by the world and rejected.

- Yes, I fully know the gospel is a stumbling block and
people will reject the gospel. But I am wondering are people rejecting the
person because of how they go about sharing the gospel, more than rejecting the
gospel itself?

- Are people "hating" the personalities of the Christian
and the sometimes awkwardness of the approach used than actually hating the
gospel itself?

- Could it be the lack of interest that the Christian can
show for the other person, the lack of listening to the other person and people
skills (yes, I know the Spirit is who does it, but the basic ways we communicate
do matter) - so when people say "I'm not interested", it is because we haven't
really shown interest in them as a person to befriend them, hang out with them,
be caring about them, going to movies with them, building trust so when we do
talk about the gospel, we have earned the right and trust for them to want to
hear what we say?

- Could it be, that for some people, the "they will hate
us" saying of Jesus, makes it easy to stay enclosed in our Christian bubble,
stay on Christian blogs and talk with other Christians all the time, and feel
like we have done our job evangelistically if we have shared with a stranger on
a plane or with someone new at our workplace and they didn't respond?

- Do some Christians use "they will hate us" as an excuse
for lack of fruit or effort to be out among non-Christians?