back to corban and frustrating christian culture

well, i've completed my first several days back at Corban, and it has been quite the experience. honestly, it has been very difficult. i had an amazing summer getting to live things out with my closest friends and enjoying Jesus together...it is hard to go back to school and see things change so dramatically.

the way that i think about life, about God, and about ministry has been transformed. God has been so gracious and loving to me by teaching me more about himself and what it means to follow him this summer. therefore, coming back to Corban has been a bit of a shock. i honestly was dreading it...

here's a few of the things that i've noticed/several experiences that i've had. as you read them please remember that God has been graciously teaching me these things...what i will describe about Corban is what i was just a few short years ago. praise God that he has been teaching me his gospel these past years.

first, Corban is such a bubble. the predominant view of church is that it is a refuge from the ills of society and culture. even though the mission statement says that Corban is trying to educate Christians to make a difference in the world for Jesus, it isn't practiced on a daily basis. that time of making a difference nearly always seems to be off in the future and not right now. therefore, we are content to do what we want during these four years of our lives rather than being obedient to God's call.

secondly, Corban is information and knowledge centered. this isn't wrong, especially since it is a school. the problem is that it is incomplete. like i said, Corban's mission statement is to educate Christians to make a difference in the world for Jesus. if this is purely cognitive education and information transfer, is this possible? is that even the way that Jesus taught his disciples?
let me give an example to illustrate this. in my class on world religions, the professor said that he hoped that we would use the information we gather about religions to someday teach a seminar or a sunday school class. now, wait a minute. i was under the impression that we would learn about other religions in order to more adequately share the gospel with others...yet, one of the goals of the class was to continue the information transfer to other christians instead of bringing the gospel to the lost.
i am not saying that seminars and learning are bad - just incomplete. many times it is a word of information, a sermon, or a book that creates change - but the goal behind teaching and eduaction must be life change and action. without action, learning dies. its sphere is limited to the brain and it never has the chance to demonstrate itself in changed hearts and lives and cities. action must accompany knowledge...and teaching must not be limited merely to knowledge transfer. it must be expanded to experience - that's why i appreciated Apologetics class with Anderson last year. we learned it, but we were actually required to practice it by interacting with unbelievers a few times over the semester. we need more of that at Corban. more experience. more action...

third, i've seen this individualistic, self-better ment sort of Christianity prominent in Corban's thinking. this, in fact, is all over evangelicalism, but i feel like i see this better in contrast to what we had the privilege of doing this summer. the attitude that i am speaking of goes like this: i am a Christian; therefore, in order to be a better Christian and be more joyful, i read my bible more, pray, go to chapel, serve in some way, etc. now, this looks harmless on the surface, but this is such a self-centered view of what it means to be a Christ follower. so much of what we do in Christian culture is all about ourselves! bible studies, spiritualized self-help books, experience oriented worship services, and even some mission trips are all about ourselves! how can i become a better Christian, be happier, feel less guilt...etc.

this attitude is deep within all of us. the past summer i came to a much deeper realization of how self-centered i really was. planting the church, i started out by using Jesse, my partner in the plant, to serve me and help me accomplish my goals for the church. i can't count how many times God exposed the ugliness of my selfishness in my interactions with him, especially that first month or two. God impressed upon me that a leader has to be the greatest servant of all by reminding me of his interactions with his disciples - and that means just giving and giving and giving....its not easy, but God has given us everything in the entire world - can't we give some of that away?!

this attitude is contrary to the gospel. if we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must learn to humbly, selflessly give all that we have. this goes against our flesh - even Christian culture. Jesus was the greatest, most selfless giver of all. he gave his life for his enemies - us! the gospel is inherently outward focused. it is good news that must be preached to those who need it. the gospel always goes out, just like Jesus stepped out of heaven and off of his throne in order to die our death for us on a cross. now, if we are going to follow Jesus and be his disciples, then we must do the same. we must step out of where is comfortable for us and go into the darkness. we must give of ourselves to the point that it hurts. that's what Jesus means when he says that we must lose our lives for his sake....and the beauty of that is that we actually find life when we lose our own.

so, Corban, we need a change. forget the way that we've always done things and what we're used to. much of it doesn't really look like Jesus. yet he loves us so much that he continues to pursue us dispite our idolatry and self-centeredness. he wants to change us. he desires to use our little city on a hill in order to transform Salem...not sometime in the future after we have our education, but right now. God is calling us to be a part of his glorious and life-giving plan right now. will we accept the invitation?