Relevant Church

In celebration of the Christmas season, I want to talk about someone who is a big inspiration, a friend, a supporter, a good listener, a pick-me-up when I am down, and someone who always forgives me no matter how badly I screw things up. I want to talk about Jesus, and who he is 2,008 years later.

I often wonder what Jesus would look like if he were walking here on earth today. He definitely wouldn’t be wearing a robe and sandals, but I think he would still have a beard and some shaggy hair. What kind of clothes would Jesus wear? I think he would be kind of trendy, wearing a cool pair of jeans, an awesome tee, and maybe a hoodie if it were kind of chilly outside. Would I recognize Jesus if he walked by me on the sidewalk? We say he knows each and every one of us, does that mean he would stop and talk to me, ask me what’s up, say my name and give me advice on life? Would Jesus eat dinner with my friends and I, just shooting the breeze and talking about whatever? I often wonder what Jesus would do when he walks by a homeless guy on the sidewalks of 7^th. I don’t always give them money, but I usually acknowledge them and say hey. Is that the right thing to do? Is that what he would do?

Two of Jesus’ many qualities that I really wish I could show more of in myself are limitless grace and eternal, or ever-lasting, forgiveness.

What is grace? Christians see grace as being God’s unmerited or undeserved favor. However, grace is more than that. It’s courteous goodwill, it’s a polite manner, and it’s even a talent or blessing. How many of us really show people any kind of grace on a consistent basis? Sure, we all have favorite people who we love and hang out with more than others, but that’s not really showing grace. Christians tend to put a limit on Gods grace. We think it’s reserved just for those who love him, and not an amazing gift for everyone. The truth is that Jesus died for everyone’s sins. He died for you, me, the non-believers, the thieves and the murderers. His grace is limitless in that he gives it everyone, no matter their background. I think that if Jesus were here today he would still show unbelievable grace. He wouldn’t just go to church-to-church meeting all the Christians and thanking them for their faithfulness. I think he’d walk to streets, visit the prisons, and get to know those who are furthest for him. Just as Jesus did, we need to stop putting a limit on our own grace. We need to be more polite to others, we need to honor others, and we need love others, even if we feel they do not deserve any of it, for it is when we put a limit to grace, that we have no grace at all.

It is so easy to forgive someone for something small. Someone bumps into you on the street, they turn around and say, “sorry man,” you say, “oh no worries.” You instantly forgave them. But what if instead, someone bumps into on the street right after you picked up your freshly made venti cinnamon dulce latte from Starbucks, and to make it worse, the lid was loose and it spilled all over your brand new, white jacket that you saved up for months to buy? They say, “Ahh! I’m so sorry man”, you turn around and go off on them. What’s really the difference? It was the same bump, same amount of force, but this time you had coffee, and it ruined something of value to you. So what if Jesus was here today? I’m pretty sure that if someone bumped him, and spilled his coffee, he would chuckle, brush it off, and say, “No worries my brother.” Jesus instantly forgives everyone for anything, no matter the size of the crime. Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things to do. When we learn to freely forgive, we rid ourselves of all the negative thoughts and feelings toward those who wronged us that we keep inside. When we are free of all these, we are open to truly experience the joy and happiness that Jesus has in store for us.

Is it possible to promise someone that we will always forgive them, and always show them grace? Probably not, but it is possible to work on those two qualities within ourselves. This holiday when someone asks me what I want for Christmas, I’m going to consider telling them limitless grace, or eternal forgiveness.

Ephesians 3:20-21: “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us…”

Ryan

So this week Paul and the guys asked me to blog about baptism. At first I was unsure about what to write. I couldn’t find the words I needed to express the feelings I have. Then all of the sudden it hit me. This is what I came up with —>                         <— “But there are no words there? You didn’t come up with anything?” Exactly! There are no words great enough to describe the feeling I got when Paul and Jamie lifted me out of the water on April 1st, 2007. To say that it was “a great experience” or “A life changing decision” would be like saying air is pretty good for living. It just isn’t enough!

The best way I can tell you about baptism is by sharing with you, my experience, and my story. So here we go: I had a great, pretty traditional, upbringing in the catholic church. I went to church every Sunday with my family, was baptized as a baby, made my first communion, and was confirmed. Some people may see me coming to Relevant as leaving the catholic church. For me, it wasn’t like that at all. I believe that people should go to a church that they feel satisfies their spiritual hunger to the fullest. Relevant fills me up to the brim, while others may feel that way about other churches, and thats totally great. Coming to Relevant was just switching dinner tables! When I began to think about baptism, I realized that I had so many questions, doubts and fears about this issue.

Questions: “Why should I be baptized again, if I was baptized as a baby?” This one really confused me, even though I had somewhat of a grasp on the answer, I still did not fully understand the concept. I sat down with the staff guys here at church and had a great conversation with them about it. My parents decision to have me baptized as an infant was amazing. If they hadn’t decided to bring me to church every week, I guarantee that I would not be a believer today. By deciding to raise me in a church, they poured the concrete foundation for me to build my spiritual life upon. However, baptizing me as a baby was my parents decision, I wanted it to be my decision. I wanted to be the one to tell God that I loved him. I wanted to be the one to tell everybody that I have a personal relationship with Him, and by deciding on my own to get baptized, I was showing everybody that I could stand by myself on the concrete foundation that my parents poured for me. 

Doubts: A lot of people told me that getting baptized changed their lives. I NEVER BELIEVED THEM! I had so much doubt that doing something as silly as getting dunked in water would change my life. I thought, “I have been dunked and swam under water hundreds of times, what would make this time different?” I am going to be really honest, I had this doubt in my head even when I was walking out into the water, thirty seconds before I got baptized. This was an issue that talking to somebody about, would never solve. The only way to believe that it changes you, is to experience it. All I can say is that the feeling of coming up out of the water, and knowing what it means, is indescribable. It instantly killed any and all doubts I had previously had.

Fears: Before I began coming to Relevant I was attending a church that I like to refer to as “old school”. While they preached many truths that were great, they gave me a bad taste in my mouth about baptism. They saw baptism as salvation. I found myself starting to believe that God wouldn’t love me if I did not make the decision to be baptized, even if I had accepted him into my heart. To make matters worse, I had lost a relationship in my life that meant a lot to me, over the issue of not deciding to be baptized in this church. I left the church and decided to find something new, luckily for me I found Relevant, and realized that God did indeed still love me, even if I had not made the decision on my own to be baptized. The fear for me came when the issue of baptism arose. I feared that if I decided to get baptized, I would be conforming to the ideas that the old church put upon me. Here is the difference; Baptism is a celebration of your faith, not a mark of your salvation. You gain eternal life when you give God your heart, and you celebrate that by being baptized.

I want to end with something that is pretty personal to me. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to write this when Paul had asked me to. You see, my family still attends the catholic church back home, and I was always afraid that if I told them I had made the decision to be baptized, that they wouldn’t understand the difference from when I was baptized as a baby and would be upset with me. So I still have not told them. It has been over a year now. I don’t really know if they know or not, but I assume that they do not because the talk has never come up. I didn’t want to write this because I didn’t want to sound hypocritical in saying that baptism is a celebration of your faith. After writing this I’ve decided that I am going to tell my family, and share with them the excitement that I felt on that day, having full confidence that God will help me find the words to share my faith with them. I want to encourage everybody who is thinking about getting baptized to contact either me or one of the staff guys with any questions or doubts that you are having. I hope that my story can help anyone who is questioning, doubtful, and scared of making this decision. Remember…. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6……