Practicing The Way…
How easily are you swayed? We think of ourselves as having a lot of control over our choices and decisions every day, but what if we are more impressionable than we thought?
Let’s consider a day in the life of an imaginary person: Joe.
Joe wakes up in the morning, and as is his usual habit, he turns on the cable news to watch while he eats his breakfast. As he listens to the talking heads discuss the day’s events, he shakes his head ruefully and feels disgust at an opposing political party welling up within him. He drowns his thoughts in coffee as he heads out the door and drives to work. Turning on his radio (another daily habit), he hears an advertisement for a truck he’s wanted to buy. The sounds of the radio begin to fade out as he starts daydreaming about that truck. Truth is, work has sucked lately, and it feels good to imagine himself sitting atop 475 horsepower, hauling it up some dirt road.
He snaps out of it as he pulls into work, already feeling drained in anticipation of the mind-numbing tasks ahead of him that day. At least he likes who he works with. As he walks in he sees Bob, who immediately begins to tell him about the latest ignorant demand their boss has made from them. He finds himself once again ruefully shaking his head, thinking about how stupid people can be.
All of that sounds like a pretty normal day in the life of an average, middle-class, American male, right? And for the most part, it seems fairly harmless. Maybe some of his routine feels familiar to you. But consider, not just what Joe is doing, but what kind of person he is becoming. Does watching the news in the morning change the trajectory of Joe’s day, swaying him towards a more cynical, pessimistic, antagonistic posture? Does the absence of silence in Joe’s routine prevent him from being able to listen to himself, or God? Does the constant barrage of advertisement he hears and sees reinforce a world view that suggests happiness comes from owning things? Does his friend’s fondness for gossip and complaining urge him to anger and disgust? When you add all these influences up, and many more, what kind of person does this turn Joe into?
Imagine that Joe is a Christian, and he goes to church for one hour, maybe every other week. I love our Sunday services, but I harbor no illusion that this one, beautiful hour can counterbalance the tsunami of input that Joe, and you and I, face every week. The truth is, we are being shaped by our habits, our environment, our friends in ways we may not even be aware of. Ways that are counter to the way of life Jesus calls us to.
At Kitsap House, we are passionate about our Monday through Friday. We believe that if we are intentional about our habits and practices in daily life with Jesus, we can allow Jesus to shape us to look more like him. Our neighbors are desperate for more people who are becoming like Jesus. They need people of peace, of joy, people who have a perspective on life that’s not hurry up and work so you can go home and watch Game of Thrones, or eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
That’s why this Fall we are beginning an 11 week course called Practicing the Way on September 19th. Developed from materials created by pastor and author John Mark Comer, this course is intended to cultivate practices and intentionality in our daily life that expose us to Jesus’ presence and work so that we can become more and more like him and do the things that he did. This will not be a series of lectures, rather we’ll be discussing challenges, trying practices, enjoying some light refreshments, and encouraging one another, taking about two hours together beginning at 6pm. If you’ve got elementary aged kids, childcare will be available.
If you’re dissatisfied with your habits, if you sense that there’s got to be something more to life, or maybe you’ve been walking with Jesus for a while but “read your Bible and pray” just isn’t cutting it for you anymore, consider signing up for the course. You can sign up here to start receiving resources that will prepare you for our time together. I look forward to embarking on practicing the way of Jesus with you!
Pastor Larry