Well, I feel like a lush. Drunk on the sounds of a jazz playlist on shuffle. I can’t explain how it soothes my soul. Seeps into all the crannies, like butter on a hot biscuit. Oh my goodness. I took a long bath WHILE listening to Billie and Thelonious and others. I used a loofah to exfoliate dead skin cells. I soaked. After my bath, I took the time to moisturize. I didn’t hurry, I slowly and satisfactorily put lotion on, removed trace bits of eye makeup, and made my way to my room. I picked up my phone…”In bed before midnight…this is GREAT!”

Good day today. Sang for student ministries at church, middle and high school. I really enjoy leading worship, but sometimes more than others God seems to place a stronger burden on my heart for the kids. Tonight was that way. I really just thought, “Man, I wonder if their parents show them Christ?”  Not tell them to go to church. But the ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was a stranger and you invited me into your home’ kind of example of Christ. The Kingdom of Heaven, so said Jesus, is like a man who sold all of his possessions so he could buy a field with a treasure in it. It’s an extravagantly all-in kind of a deal.

Today as we sang “The Time Has Come,” I felt my honesty being tested, especially on the bridge– “All we are is Yours, all we’re living for is all You are.”

We sing that a lot. And I’m a seasoned Christian. Heck, I’m a preacher’s kid, which kind of makes me a pro. But it’s easy to fall into a pattern of life as usual rather than adventurously living for Christ. Taking time to love the least of these, have a conversation with an awkward stranger, showing mercy to an undeserving person.

“Today, today, it’s all or nothing” the chorus starts. All or nothing. I want to apply this idea to the parable. Why buy the whole field? Why not just buy the treasure? Now there’s probably an answer related to cultural dealings back then that I am unaware of. Either way, though, I truly think the message here is the idea of whole-hearted commitment. It’s not enough to just have the treasure. Oh no. I’m gonna sweep up all the land around it. Maybe even build a fence around it. This treasure requires desperate measures. An entire displacement of life as usual. That treasure holds the keys to radical love and the deepest depths of contentment. Nothing else can possibly matter aside from my possessing it and all that it entails.  ”All we’re living for is all You are.”

I feel like a kid hyped up at a youth rally writing about all of this. “Radical living for Christ! Woo!” You know, when kids get psyched up and hand out soup cans and tracts door to door. That is one way to live radically.  I guess. But the commission Christ gave, so central to the Christian mission that it’s called the great commission, is to make disciples as you go.  I’ve found that as you go acts of love and kindness often take a backseat to less personal, more global (and glorified) efforts.  We scoff at the homeless man with a sign standing by College Rd. while gladly purchasing multiple pairs of Toms.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love it when social justice and fashion mix. It’s a beautiful thing of which I am a consumer.  And there’s a chance the homeless guy will buy beer or drugs or something else we wouldn’t approve of.  But this reason for not giving is both terribly judgmental and purblind. It pays to ask for someone’s story rather than assume things based on their appearance.  And ironically, we worry how a few dollars might be squandered if we give it to them while we justify unnecessary and often irresponsible purchases of our own.  ”Well, it’s my money to waste if I want to.”  Whoa there Tiger!  We are MERELY stewards.  Managers.  Our money is to be stewarded for the kingdom.  It goes back to the selling everything to buy the field.

I didn’t mean to go on a rant about giving to homeless people.  I’m not saying it’s wrong to not give money to homeless people.  In fact, I confess that I struggle that homelessness is even an issue America, simply because it seems hardly justifiable given all of the helps and opportunities here.  But the point is, as we go there are opportunities to show kindness and draw men to Christ.  We don’t have to swipe a credit card for a cause halfway around the world for that to happen.  In fact, a truer test of Christlike love is taking care of one’s neighbor.  Those people that daily life dumps on our lap.

All of this is serving as a reminder to myself as well.  Just thought I should make that clear.

My jazz music is still going.  I’m in such a strangely hopeful mood.  I think it’s the combo of music, the bath, being comfy, and the Holy Spirit.  I know I’ve got a lot to do.  Gotta make room for that field in my life, get rid of clutter.  But I just feel like something big is coming.  I just think we are going to see change in the community of Believers here.  A new level of passion.  A deeper dissatisfaction with cultural norms.  A desire to love extravagantly.  I want those kids I led today to get rocked.  I want each of them to know they were created for more than life as usual.

Oh man.  Happy Sunday night world.

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