Are Ya Drinkin' Your Jesus?

This was one of the questions that Joey, our pastor, asked this morning. He was using the analogy of a Gatorade commercial where the guys are playing sports and instead of sweating like normal, they are sweating the color of their Gatorade drink. The tagline of the commercial is "Are you drinking your Gatorade." Appropriately, he then asked us, "Are ya drinkin' your Jesus?" So I have a few things to say about this.

We started a new series today called "Overflow" and I totally can't wait to hear more in the weeks to come. Our church and Confluence (our coffee shop) is in such a neat position right now for our people to be used in the community and to reach out to people; not for the purpose of bringing them into our church (although it would be really cool if they joined us), but for the purpose of loving them and meeting them where they are; to remove those barriers between the "y'all" and "us" of non-Christians, Christianity, religion and denominations. But before we can be used, we have to be right within ourselves and with God and overflowing with Christ so that others can see Him in us. And in the process Satan is going to do everything he can to stop this. He was in one little corner of our service today causing people not to be focused; trying to pull others' attention away from what Joey was saying to what he had going on in the back of the room. And the funny thing is, he uses distractions like that to cause us to miss something - many times the most important thing. So we have to manage that and make sure that we don't allow Satan to have the access that he can so easily gain sometimes. Otherwise, we'll never overflow because he'll constantly be working the drain plug ever so slowly letting out just a little bit of what is being put in.

It's been such a long time since I've been a part of a church and a group where I felt like God actually wanted me to be. Moreover, it's been a long time since I've had a desire to be completely focused and centered on Him. Don't get me wrong, my faith has always been there and I have never doubted my beliefs and where I'll spend eternity. But the fire wasn't there. Life was repetitive, very uninteresting, and very disappointing. I was tired of putting so much into the relationships and supposed friendships that I formed with other people only to be disappointed in the long run when something better came along for them or when they were bored with me or whatever the problem was that caused them to pull away. (I don't claim perfection in that statement, by the way. What I mean is that friendship is a give and take with both good and bad. Some folks tend to bail when its not going their way or when they are disenchanted with some facet of the relationship.) I prayed for a long time, "God, show me a church, a place where you want me to be, where I can be involved, and where others will take the same interest in my life that I want to take in theirs." Now I only wish that I had listened to Him six months ago when He tried to show me The River - when I took time to read their door hanger, which I never do. All of those type things usually go directly in the trash at my house. But for some reason, I kept this one for a very long time. I checked the church out online. I read everything I could find about it and the people who are involved in it. And finally, after constant reminders and gentle prodding (okay, maybe not so gentle) I decided to give it a try. Wow! I'm glad I did. For those of you that go to The River who are reading this, I value each and every one of you and thank God daily that I'm part of this movement and that as I get to know you we are part of each others' lives.

Now that I have a church home, it's time for God to start work on the other areas. I totally know that He's going to do it too. I hope He does for you as well. There are things that apply from all of Joey's points this morning - it will just be interesting to see how God is going to carry out His plan. I'm definitely part of the group that needs to work on the "But you" part of my faith. Our scripture that we're looking at over the course of this series is Acts 1:8. .
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be
my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of
the Earth.
Jesus said "But you," not your neighbor, not the guy down the street, not the person at the store who serves you, He said YOU - that means ME. And while contact evangelism may not be my thing (it's totally not), there are other ways that I can fulfill that "But you" part of His message. Perhaps its in my daily work and interactions, or by being involved in various ways at church, or by writing something on my blog that others will read which will allow God to speak to them. But I have a purpose and a command and I have to figure out how to fulfill it with God's direction and timing. Nonetheless, I have responsibility, a mission, in the "But you" part of scripture.

This will defnitely flow into other areas of my life as we go along and you'll probably see a posting about them. But I want to leave you with a challenge. If you're the person who just goes to church and goes thru the motions of Sunday service just so you can say you were there; if you're the person who goes to church just so your kids get to attend and you're not actively involved; if you're the person who says that you're "involved" in the children's ministry or the nursery or some other part of the church and it's not truly a ministry but a barrier to hide behind, a hindrance keeping you from getting involved in your church and the lives of its people and fulfilling the 'But you' part of scripture; if you're the person who goes to church but none of your friends that you hang out with are invovled in a church of their own and its obvious that it's not a good crowd or they are causing you to lose the "But you" focus, I challenge you to re-examine those parts of your life.

If you're not fulfilled spiritually by anything you do in your life; if you're unhappy with who you are and where life is going; if you've been disappointed by others or burned so many times by supposed friendships that you now withdraw more often than reaching out, ask God what "But you" is supposed to mean for you. Ask Him to show you where you belong and how you can be obedient to His word.

We only get so many chances to reach out to people, to make a difference, to impact their lives. If we pass up those chances, what good have we done? What are we doing in our own lives to make sure that we are filled and overflowing and that others see this? What are we doing so that we possess what is needed to reach out and give to others? Are you drinkin' your Jesus?