Losing our Muchness and Settling

Pop culture is full of cross-cultural and missional truths that are discovered in some rather fun and yet odd places.
Today we will discuss two places of discovery, the movie Alice in Wonderland, and the TV show 30 Rock.

It was interesting how in the span of a week, these two not-so-obvious resources of missional truth spoke to the same issue that I see plaguing the church, a miss-guided view of God's passion that has lead to a deep sense of apathy and settling.

In 30 Rock, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) was convinced that she had found her her future husband. But, the more they got together, the more they realized that they were polar opposites and not a good fit, not even close.
Upon this realization and as they kept 'accidentally' running into each other, he told Liz: "Fate is telling us this is the best we're ever going to get. We're each other's settling soul-mates." The plague of settling, giving up, becoming numb and losing your soul.

In Alice in Wonderland The Mad Hatter told Alice: You used to be much more…”muchier.” You’ve lost your muchness. (watch video)

Alice, according to the Mad Hatter, was back in Wonderland to slay the Jabberwocky, but decided it was too much for her and she couldn't or wouldn't do it, even tho it was her calling.
She had lost her vision, her passion, her heart....her 'muchness', her will to be in the battle.

So, what does this have to do with being missional, and have we lost our 'muchness' when it comes to seeing God glorified among all peoples, and have we 'settled' into the abyss of the mundane?

John Piper says this: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever…” -John Piper

Our missional passion to see God glorified, which will drive our choices, flows out of one thing, our worship and view of God. All He does and has done is with a single purpose and passion, His glory among all people. As Alice had lost her 'muchness' to fight evil and do battle with the Jabberwocky, I wondered if I had lost my 'muchness' to be engaged in the fight with Satan over the fame of His name among all nations.

As I look in the mirror of Ps. 96 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;tremble before him, all the earth.

I need to ask, how is my worship, my view of God, and how does that drive my passion to see Him known and worshiped by all peoples?

Let's not settle and lose our muchness, but let's pursue God's passion to be known and worshiped by all peoples.



To further help in how to align your passions with the passions of God, click on the cover for a free eBook

That the nations would know....

I honestly I, and I think I am not alone, am growing tired of all the political rhetoric about health-care, or as some call it Obama-care. Republicans are doing all they can to stop it and quoting countless emails and letters from Americans who say they don't want it. Democrats cite their own conversations from Americans who are hurting and without health-care. The tensions hit an all time high this week in an interview between Foxnews and President Obama, it was ugly....I just want it to stop, really.

The point of this communication is not the decide or even take sides in the health-care debate, our God knows and has known what will happen, but to call all of us to the very heart of God in worship creating a passion for reaching the nations for His glory.

The time, energy, passion, sleep, etc., that is used and or lost on this debate and others that sidetrack the church from being the church is exactly what the enemy wants to happen. I mean, if we can get all into the health-care debate, or other side issues that we really can't or won't be resolved in our or any lifetime, then the enemy keeps us off target, off of God's heart to be glorified by all peoples, THAT is what we are to pour ourselves into and to be about.

Psalm 67: 1-3 says: May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.

America is a blessed nation, way beyond what we deserve, but that blessing comes with a defining call, 'So that God's ways may be known on earth, His salvation among all nations', and no other reason.

So, as the health-care debate rages on, let's not get sidetraced by it, but let's pray that God would search our hearts, cleanse our souls, and clarify our vision of worship, worship by all peoples. Watch this amazing video, and then pray Ps. 67.



For a free eBook about how our world view and theology is all about us rather than being about God's glory among all nations, click on the cover of the book, Cat and God Theology. It is an important and timely read, especially for these days.

God's Eye View

Everything we think, do, feel and live out is based on our world view. Everything from our view of God, how we spend our money, our politics, our opinions of other cultures and people, and on and on.

So, do you think having a right world view is important? I do, but the question is, what is worldview anyway?

Wikipedia defines it as,
"the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing natural philosophy, fundamental existential and normative postulates or themes, values, emotions, and ethics." My response is 'huh?'

That explanation is a bit out there and hard to understand, but regardless, it is deeply critical for Christians to have a worldview, especially a world view that is Christ centric..but how do we get there, and what does that mean. As we all continue to discover and define our worldview it is fundamentally critical and important to develop and define it through a global/missional filter.

Warren Smith, who wrote the book A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church talks about it in this video, take a look and see what you think, but whatever you do, think about and develop a world view that is counter-cultural to what most American Christians have and includes a global theme....watch this.