Second Mile

OK, so I admit it. I am at mid-life. But instead of having a crisis, I am having a catharsis. A deep purging of my soul's desires and motivations. I look around me and I really don't want to be a statistic. I want to finish this race well. God has been dealing with me about Jesus' command that we are to go a second mile if asked. Though this passage is about mistreatment and persecution, I think there is a broader application as well. I began to realize that I may not be able to physically or emotionally handle being forced to go one mile, let alone be able to fulfill the command to go two. And it may not be an evil oppressor that is forcing me to go father then required. It may be my Lord asking me. If God asked me to reach a tribe high in the Himalayas, would I not only be willing, but physically would I be able? If it is His plan for me to remain active in full-time ministry until I am 80 years old, so that I can help bring in the end-time harvest of souls, am I shortchanging His plan because of poor eating and exercise habits today? I don't want to back into eternity by default. I want to be one of those Overcomers in Revelation 2 and 3, going from strength to strength, just hitting my fullest stride as I cross the finish line. I want to have stamina and longevity so I can hear the "well done". I want to be around for my wife and kids and grandkids for that matter and not end up in the emergency room because of my poor choices. But it won't happen because I wish it to. I have to set and obey strict boundaries in my life. I want to live a life of uncommon consecration, set apart for Him so His anointing rests heavy enough on me that others I touch can be set free. I need to cultivate deeper and deeper intimacy and partnership with my wife. I have to get on the treadmill daily, do the ab crunches and say no to overeating. I have to set the alarm earlier to spend more time to face the onslaught of evil all around me. I have to develop my ministry skills to not fall into complacency and professionalism. Going the second mile is more than a decision of a moment. It is the preparation of a life and an implementation of a lifestyle. I want to be able to go the second mile. To wherever He says, doing whatever He asks.

Help, My Fall Has Been Hijacked!

Am I mistaken, or are there still thirty-eight (count 'em, as of this writing on Sept 22nd) shopping days until Halloween? And where, pray tell, have all the Halloween super-stores come from? I turned around and they have suddenly appeared on every corner like an orange-and-black Starbucks-esque franchise taking over the retail world. I had envisioned a more uplifting replacement for the shopping space that the local Circuit City once occupied. Now instead of buying an Apple I can bob for apples.

OK, I know Halloween has increasingly become a bigger and bigger event over the years. But in my memory, only Christmas used to occupy such a nostalgic and important place in American culture as to justify a whole season dedicated to the event. Don't we all actually need a whole month or more to write all the Christmas cards, attend all the Christmas parties, and buy enough gifts for every cousin and great-aunt in our families? But more than that, the spectacle of the long Christmas season is a testimony to the greatness and importance of the One for whom it is all about.

But this black cats and jack-o-lantern stuff in every store starting in August to me is making a statement. It's more than money hungry retailers trying to pull one over on naive shoppers, milking them for as much cash as possible as early as possible. Just let them try some month-long glitzy and attractive marketing blitz to promote Mother-in-Law Day and the consumers still aren't gonna bite. No, Halloween has taken up a huge place in the collective consciousness of post-modern America, and retailers are just capitalizing on a movement. It has become the new anti-religious holiday of choice for non-religious people. And it is being promoted, celebrated and planned for in a way that is disproportional to the actual value and meaning of the day.

Fall used to be about football, falling leaves, harvest, Thanksgiving, and an oh so very small part of the end of October. It was "oh, yeah, we need to sow Suzy a costume for Halloween coming up on Friday and stop by the store for a bag of candy in case some trick-or-treaters ring the bell." But it has morphed into the Holiday that Hijacked Fall in 3-D. It's goblins and witches and horror in your face for weeks on end. And it really is silly what we have allowed it to become.

Drive-by evangelism

Dalene tells of a youth leader she knew when she was in high school who publicly boasted that he wanted to date a thousand girls before he married. The look of disgust as she tells it reveals how it made her feel about him. And how about the poor girls who found out they were number 101 or 845 on one man’s notch-filled dating belt? I am not sure if he ever filled his quota, but there must have been a whole host of emotional casualties in this version of drive-by dating. Why does it sound kind of disgusting? Because it treats people as numbers. And it lacks in genuine concern for developing authentic relationships which take commitment of time and investment of soul.
Years ago there was a young woman who married an eighty year old billionaire and got him to will his entire estate to her. After his death, the man’s family fought this decision in court, rightly feeling that this woman was not genuinely in love with him but only after his money. No one likes to feel used. And we are all deeply suspicious of people who appear to have hidden agendas in their pursuit of people. Certainly no one mistakes that a telemarketer on the phone is interested in anything else than scoring a sale.
I have been thinking a lot lately about motives in missions and especially how it may feel to be on the other end of evangelistic endeavor. If missionaries, pastors and church members do not have as their number one goal the genuine love and care for any unbelieving person, then we may be blind to the fact that, to others, we come off like that youth leader or gold-digging heiress. We can pursue people, but if we do not continue to invest our lives and time in them once they are “caught” then we are guilty of drive-by evangelism. And the world has every right to be disgusted.