The Right Tool

For the past 4 weeks I’ve embarked on the most ambitious motorcycle maintenance/repair that I’ve ever dared attempt. I’ll spare you the details and the insider jargon but the lessons that I’ve relearned are worth sharing.

When I was kid my dad passed on to me and now I to you, that 50% of doing any type of home or auto repair well is about having the right tools. The other 50% is knowing how to use the tool right.

The right tool, used rightly. I don’t know if the percentage break down is exactly 50/50 but anecdotally I have experienced the truth, that doing anything well requires the tools and knowledge to use the tool in the right way. Now I confess that I have used tools improperly – I have used flashlights, shoes and screwdrivers as hammers, and who among us haven’t been creative in the use of duct tape in a pinch. But, I do know that having the right tool and using it rightly can and will make the job easier, and better.

I’m challenged then to evaluate the tools that I’m using in my spiritual life, to grow deeper roots, and become a stronger and more faithful follower of Christ.
Tool #1 – The Holy Spirit – without the guidance, teaching, and revelation of the Holy Spirit I have no hope of growth.

Tool #2 – the bible – its revelation of God, His commands, His desires, His heart – I cannot follow nor pursue that which I cannot recognize. With out the bible I’d be on an eternal snipe hunt.

Tool #3 – the church – theology is not hashed out in private and seclusion – heresy comes to light in the context of others. Truth is found and understood with the help of others. Life change is the result of the Holy Spirit prompting, biblical understanding and a community of support and accountability. With out the church we cannot become who God is shaping us to be.

I know far too many who use a pod cast as a substitution for church, and who use blogs as a substitution for the bible and personal intuition for a substitute for the Holy Spirit. We must be people who use the right tools and use them rightly.

Duct tape is great, but I don’t want my surgeon using it instead of sutures.

My Israel

The outreach of the church is only as effective as the ability of Christians to make genuine friendships and connections with people who are not Christ followers. The big problem for all of us is that the longer we are Christians, and the more “Christian” our lives become, i.e. going to “Christian” concerts, going to “Christian” school functions, watching movies with “Christian” themes, shopping at “Christian” book stores, etc. The less contact and the less in common we have with those who are not Christian. I don’t view this as a small problem, but it is one with a simple yet challenging answer. We have to go to where they are.

This answer is by no means new; in fact it is exactly the formula that we are given in scripture. The disciples where sent out to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” In Matt 10:5. And then the scope becomes wider in Matt 28:19 where we are commanded to go and make disciples in all the nations. Acts 1:8 again we are commanded to be witnesses in all the earth. And this is implied in the command to love your neighbor, how can you love someone you do not know, how can you show someone love unless you engage them on some level.

I am convinced that I am doing something wrong, that I have very little contact with lost people. Jesus not only commanded us to know and love the lost, but He gave himself as the example to follow. Christ was much more likely to be found with prostitutes, drunks, and adulterers than He was to be found with priests or in the temple.

Several years ago, I made it a point to go to comic book stores frequently. There I find my people, we talk a similar language, and we have a shared story, and instant kinship. I got to know the names of the people that worked there and saw regulars every Wednesday (new comic book day) and even for an introvert it was easy to strike up conversations. I stopped going to the comic book store because it was expensive, time consuming and bit too geeky at times. But, I can’t help but think that it was there in the comic book shop that I engaged in “real” ministry, much more real than what takes place on the stage on Sunday mornings. Maybe it’s time to go back to the comic book store, and look for opportunities to minister? Maybe it’s time to go to them, my Israel and be a witness?

How about you, where is your Israel?