Monkey Bars

Another analogy....This one comes from one of my high school students...

So go back in time and put your 1st grade shoes on....

Our faith is a lot like monkey bars. You know. Those super intimidating rungs that seemed so high and out of reach? Well it turns out they aren't that bad if you just have the guts to try it.

Sounds like faith right?

Everyone looks at the monkey bars (just like everyone looks for faith), but few try actually try it out. You get to the platform, and you put your hands on the first rung. You look across and see that it's a long way and you might not make it. But you convince yourself to step off the platform anyways. (This is the initial "leap of faith" that all Christians go through)

Now you're hanging. Good work! You start thinking it's not to bad. You're fairly comfortable. You think, "Hey, maybe I can just hang here. That's fun, right?" But you realize that there's much more to the monkey bars than just hanging on the first rung. Here's where most people fall off because they grow tired. Christians call this "burn-out." We get comfortable in our stage of faith and stop moving forward. This actually wears us out much faster.

You look up, and see that the next rung seems so far away. And the rung after that seems even further. Thankfully, you've seen others do this before (prophets, Biblical heroes, historical Christian leaders) so you have an idea what it looks like when done right. So you decide to give it a go.

This is what separates the men from the boys.

You swing one arm forward and barely clasp onto that metal bar in front of you. Some people need a bit of practice to get this motion down, but fear not! Here's the secret:

Commitment.

You have to get your whole body to swing. You have to try. You can't just half-heartily throw your hand out there. Faith works the same way. We can't just "sorta" believe in God. It's all or nothing.

Then you're in the awkward transition phase where your hands are on two different rungs at once. This is where you have to leave the comfort of that last rung behind and trust all your weight on this new rung.

Many Christians struggle with this.

We finally get out of our "comfort rung" and grab the next idea/concept, but we're still holding onto the old one. Revelation 3:15-16 warns us about being lukewarm. Often God's lessons change our lives, and we don't like that. So we grab the new lesson but forget to let go of our old ways.

Back to your monkey bar quest....You've now got both hands on the second rung. Congratulations! You're now ready to start the cycle over again. Because the most important aspect of this analogy is the fact that one doesn't go out to the third, fourth, or even fifth rung and just hang. God doesn't call us to get to a point in faith where we just "hang."

He calls us to keep moving forward. He knows that we'll fall, but He also gives us the strength to get back on. He wants us to be continuously challenged. Ever notice that right about the time you're comfortable in life, things get shaken up?

Maybe it's time to swing.

Living Water

After nearly 5 months of working as a youth pastor, and spending the past 2 months without a head pastor, this is one servant of God who is tired.

I love what I do. I love caring for the youth of God's family. I love preparing worship services and leading God's people on Sunday mornings. I love being a part of God's family and tending His flock. But I'm doing it wrong.

I am working out of my own strength. My own reserves.

In Christ's ministry, He got his strength, wisdom, and direction from the Father. Christ couldn't do it on His own (John 5:19). He needed strength and guidance from our Father in heaven. So if Christ needed God's help, how much more do I?

And perhaps that's why me (and so many other servants of ministry) suffer from burnout and weariness. We try to refuel on coffee. Use vacations and retreats to replenish our reserves. But these things are just well water. Christ told the lady at the well;

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst."
(John 4:13-14)

We need to seek our strength from Christ. Not from our well. When Christ tells us to lay our burdens on Him, he means it (Matthew 11:28-30). It's important that we recognize our place in God's kingdom. We aren't caring for God's sheep out of our own compassion and love, but rather God's love. We only love our congregations because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

We aren't the source of water to give. We aren't giving ourselves to our congregation. We're giving Christ. And so we need to take the living water, because everything else is going to leave us thirsty and coming back for more.