Pimp My Life

Have you ever seen the show pimp my ride ?

I used to watch it, just to see how the car in each episode would top the car from the previous episode in awfulness.

Oh yeah and then there was xzibit . . . how can you not love xzibit ?

Honestly I know hardly anything about cars, but I would tune in each week to see how crazy and out there and awesome the vehicles would become after they had been “pimped”.

And if you watch the show then you know, during the commercial breaks you wonder what your car would look like “pimped out”

but it would never happen to me . . . you know because they say pimping ain’t easy.

Pimp my ride may seem very random, but I saw a commercial the other day for the new season, and I was taking a stroll down memory lane, and it got me thinking about some stuff that has been bubbling in my head for a while.

So let’s get out our proverbial bubble wand and blow.
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As mentioned in previous blogs, I am reading through Jeremiah. The last blog dealt with two big questions that Jeremiah asks, and asks often. They were two large themes. So let’s tackle the next big theme.

Restoration .

It’s a big word that sounds really important.

If you say it at church people might think you are really spiritual or something.

The dictionary defines restoration as the act of restoring (big surprise); renewal; revival; or reestablishment.

So do you get the picture ?

It’s like taking an old dresser and sanding it down, painting it, and putting new knobs on it.

It’s like sewing a hole up in your favorite pair of pants.

It’s like getting part for your car and replacing them.

That is restoration.

Let’s take a minute to look at a snapshot of Jeremiah and his situation.

So Jeremiah is a prophet – a spokesman for God. In this case, Jeremiah is one of only a few people who are true spokesmen for God. The other “prophets” out there are telling the people to do whatever they want and that includes worshipping other gods. A big no-no when it comes to Yahweh. At this point God’s people (Israel /Judah) are about to deal with the consequences of their sin.

And the consequence for them walking away from God, and to other idols is that God is going to allow another nation to take them into captivity. Basically they won’t be in charge of themselves at all; they will be servants, slaves, and the lower rung of society.

If you are a good Jew and you see this snap shot as it plays out, there is nothing you can say except that this is broken. This is not what God wanted for his people, and they way things are . . . it’s just not right.

It’s broken.

but that is not where things end. God has something more in mind.

Here is what he says to Jeremiah :

“don't miss this: The time is coming when no one will say any longer, 'As sure as God lives, the God who delivered Israel from Egypt.' What they'll say is, 'As sure as God lives, the God who brought Israel back from the land of the north, brought them back from all the places where he'd scattered them.' That's right, I'm going to bring them back to the land I first gave to their ancestors.”
-Jeremiah 16:14-15 (the message)

Did you catch that . . . God promised restoration.

He told Jeremiah even though the people are going to go through this, I am going to bring them back. I am going to restore them.

Wow . . . that’s all I can say. I mean seriously do you see how HUGE this idea is. Maybe you don’t . . . so think about it. God’s people deserved what they were getting . . . and they deserved to stay there in captivity. The deserved to be separated, to be cut off. They deserved their brokenness.

But God said . . . “ I will restore them”

That is the beauty of grace . . . it makes life not fair (thanks Relient K)

What makes this even more HUGE is that this is not some isolated event with God.

Paul describes it this way “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone the new has come!”

This is a pattern. This is a characteristic that defines who God is.

God is in the restoration business.

It’s something he has done, is doing, and will continue to do.

And as I have been wrestling with this idea this week, I think it is much HUGER than we recognize.

Fact – here is the way the church (on a whole) views things . . .

We sin and that separates us from God. Jesus came and died to bridge that gap and take away our sin. We try not to sin, in order to be more like Christ . . . in turn to bring others to him.

That is basically how we view things. It’s a nice little equation. And I am not saying it’s wrong. I just think it is a little incomplete.

I don’t know about you, but for me there has to be something more, something deeper going on, than just some sort of transaction, where Jesus takes away what I owe.

I believe God is just so much deeper than that.

And as I read about Jesus and his teachings, it spurns me on to say that there is something more that God wants, than for me to be “saved”

There is something he wants to do with my life, with your life. Something specific, something meaningful.

And while I was having these thoughts this week, I read the following –

“God isn’t just interested in the covering over of our sins; God wants to make us into the people we were originally created to be. It is not just the removal of what’s being held against us; it is God pulling us into the people he originally had in mind when he made us. This restoration is why Jesus always orients his message around becoming the kind of people who are generous and loving and compassionate. The goal here isn’t simply to not sin . . . it’s not about what you don’t do. The point is becoming more and more the kind of people God had in mind when we were first created. It is one thing to be forgiven; it is another thing to become more and more and more and more the person God made you to be.”
-Rob Bell (Velvet Elvis, Chapter 4: Tassels)

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So let’s finish the bubbling, and wrap this up.

God is like Xzibit (or how he used to be); they are both in the restoration business.
In each episode of Pimp my Ride they do two things:

1) They fix all the important stuff that needs fixing so the vehicle will work.
2) They put all the flashy stuff to make it “pimped” out.

In the end, they have a fully restored vehicle that everyone would like to have.

I think God wants to do the same thing.

God wants to pimp your life.

Not that he wants to give you all the flashy things, but he does want you to be who he created you to be. And whatever that is, it is special. It is specific. God know exactly who he wants you to be.

Maybe that is a scary thing . . . but for me it is exhilarating.

God has an awesome plan for me. He knows exactly how to use me to build and establish his kingdom best. And I don’t know about you, but I desperately want that life.

I want to live life to the fullest. I want to squeeze everything I can out of it, for God’s glory. I want to forcefully advance God’s kingdom.

I don’t know about you, but for that person to develop in my life. I need some restoration. I need God to fix the essentials, and give me all the special things I need to be who he created me to be.

I’m betting you and I are pretty similar.

I’m betting you need some restoration too.

If you do, then you can pray the same prayer with me today

“Lord, please pimp my life”

mall walkers

Mall walkers are intense.

If you are unfamiliar with the term . . . mall walkers are those people who go to the mall and walk inside the perimeter in order to get exercise. Most of the time these people are older and many times they are retired.

I have seen many mall walkers in my days. And every time I see them, I am amazed / scared at their intensity.

I know some mall walkers, and when I run into them in the mall, they are so focused they barely take the moment to recognize your presence.

I am afraid to know what might happen if you got in their way, or tried to stop them and talk to them.

The thing about mall walkers is they are focused. Each step is intentional. They have chosen to be there to exercise and nothing is getting in their way of accomplishing that goal.
I don’t think I will ever be a mall walker.

But mall walkers got me thinking . . . actually I had been reading . . . and things just started to connect.

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So if you have been reading my blogs then you know that I have been reading through the book of Jeremiah lately.

And as I have been reading there have been some big themes that have been popping out.

1) Why do God’s people suffer?
2) Why do evil people prosper?

These are two big questions that Jeremiah wrestles with. Now before I go on, I don’t want to say this is how things always are . . . but this is how things were for Jeremiah, and that’s how things have started to connect for me . . . so that’s where we start.

Issue # 1 – why God’s people suffer?

So for Jeremiah the question of why God’s people suffer was answered simply
“because they have turned away from Me (God)”

The New American Standard Version paints this picture of “turning away” as walking away. I think that picture is extremely accurate for what happens.

Over and over again Jeremiah says that God’s people walked after things other than God, and that they chose paths which did not include God.

Big point: So one reason why God’s people suffer is because they have walked away from God and toward other things.

Issue # 2 – why evil people prosper ?

God answers this second answer simply as well.

“don’t worry about them . . . I will deal with them”

This isn’t the answer Jeremiah wants . . . because if God’s people are going to suffer, then it makes sense that those people who don’t love or follow God should suffer too.

But God reassures Jeremiah over and over again that He will judge the wicked.

Big point: God will deal with the wicked in his time, they will not go un-judged.

so let’s bring this all together . . . what happens when you put . . .

mall walkers , suffering godly people, prospers evil doers, and God?
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I don’t know about you but I have felt like Jeremiah felt. Actually I can feel what Jeremiah felt right now in my life. I feel like my life is falling apart and I cry out to God and I ask why would you do this? Why would you let this happen to me ? Haven’t I always done my best to serve you ? Haven’t I done my best to live my life for you? Why do I suffer ? Or are you even there ?

I also look at the world, and even people in my life and wonder how God could allow them to have such a good life, when they don’t care what He says, or what He wants from them.
I know what these things feel like

So again I question . . . God where are you in all of this ?

I think we all do this . . . question if God is really there.
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So let’s connect

When we call God’s presence into question we are really just vocalizing or realizing that we don’t feel close to God.

For Jeremiah God’s people were far from God because they walked away from him.

This walking thing is huge. Walking is an intentional thing. You don’t just randomly walk. Walking isn’t an involuntary action. Walking requires purpose. You choose where you are going to go, and then you put one foot in front of another until you get there.

Just like mall walkers . . . there is a purpose, a focus, a goal.

So why is it that God describe what happened to his people as their walking away ?

Sometimes we say that Christians have fallen away, or wandered from the path. Both of those phrases seem very “accidental.” Like you were just living your life for Jesus and then one day . . . oops . . . you accidentally were living for something else.

God describes the relationship, the dynamic as our walking away. Our purposeful choosing.
That changes everything . . . doesn’t it.

Let me be clear . . . I’m not saying that we sit around as Christians as say . . .” ok, tomorrow I am going to stop loving God”

But what we do, is we make active choices that go against God, and we think that we will be ok. That somehow we can knowingly choose against God, and it won’t be “a deal breaker” with him.
And as we make that choice against him, we take one step away from him, and then the next time we choose “not Him” we take another step, and another, and another.

The feeling of being far away from God has nothing to do with what God is or is not doing . . . but has everything to do with our choices, our lives, and what we are purposefully walking toward each day.

Rob Bell puts it this way,

“God is always present. We are the ones who show up.”

God’s point to Jeremiah was that, He had always and would always be God. Jeremiah didn’t have to worry about it. But what Jeremiah needed to do, was to walk toward God. And to encourage , lead , and direct his people to do the same thing.

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So if you are feeling far away from God. Know this . . . you may have walked away. He is there. But maybe you aren’t. That’s not a great thing to hear, but healing comes from being honest with yourself. Maybe today you need to admit to yourself, and a close friend that you haven’t been walking toward God. But you have been walking toward other things (school, friends, job, bf / gf , popularity, video games, shopping, etc.)

That could be your first step back toward God.

Because as crazy as this life can be . . . it really is as simple as walking.
Take the step today toward God, then tomorrow take the next step. Then the next and the next.

Pursue God with the intensity of a mall walker, and you won’t have anything to worry about. God is there and he is doing his job. So let’s do ours, and walk toward him

For my King
-devin