Immersion Worship

Today I was reading 2 Corinthians 5, thinking about my responsibilities and calling as we head in to the New Year. As I was reading this chapter, especially verses 11 through 21, I became aware that there are callings that we all have.

First, we’re all called to be persuaders. We live in a society where people are trying to persuade us in a direction that they think would benefit us (perhaps it would), but really one that they know would benefit them. Advertising is about persuasion - iPod vs. Zune, anyone? Politicians try to persuade us that their particular policies will be the ones that are best for us.

I sometimes wonder whether as Christians we are afraid to try and persuade people as to the truth of Christ’s claims. Paul isn’t. He isn’t afraid to say that fearing God makes him prepared to try to persuade others. This is especially hard hitting when you consider that we have some of the best ‘ammunition’ there could possibly be in that task; personal experience and testament. Think about it. When you are persuaded to use a new product or do things a different way or even believe something different, it’s usually because someone has persuaded you from their personal experience to do it.

Another call that is placed upon all of us, as verse 19 shows, is to be reconcilers. People get separated for all sorts of reasons. When I was growing up, there was a show on TV called ‘This Is Your Life’, and sometimes they would arrange reunions for people who haven’t seen each other for decades - best friends, sisters, brothers, parents etc. I love that because it is indicative of the basic need there is in us to be reconciled.

There is a universal and awful truth that we have been separated from the God who loves us; separated by sin and self-centeredness. The task we have as those who know God’s love and forgiveness is to be those who people to Christ. Verse 19 puts it so powerfully; “God was reconciling.” The means of reconciliation are established and the work to make reconciliation possible is complete. Jesus words on the cross, “it is finished”, are not words of giving up but a sense of ‘task completed’

We don’t have to make the reconciliation happen. In human terms the process of reconciliation between two parties is hard work. There is dialog, meetings, interaction. If it’s international reconciliation there is frenzied diplomatic activity, no one wants to admit they caused the separation, no one was wrong. No one need lose face.

The power to reconcile is in the message of reconciliation that Paul says we have been given. God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. It’s the Good News that God loves the individual that causes them to see that the God who created them and loved them enough to allow Jesus to die for them that is drawing them back to Himself. We live in a relationally fragmented society, and because people were designed for relationship, this is not good. What a privilege to be carriers of the message of reconciliation, of God’s love that can deal with anything from the past, forgive our sins and accept us into God’s family, no longer strangers but friends. It’s our calling to pass that message on.

The third thing that I recognize as a calling on all of us is to be ambassadors. In the political sense of the word, an ambassador is a minister representing the government of his country to another country. For us who know God, we have the privilege of representing Him in a world that is not our home. Paul says to the Corinthians that God is making His appeal through us.

It’s up to us to make sure that the things we say are representing God properly. Do the words we use honour God and represent His standards? It’s so easy to use words for harm as well as good. Sometimes words just slip from the tongue and we know even as they are leaving our lips that they would have been better left unsaid. On the other hand, the ambassador always speaks in support of his country. Are we prepared to say good things for God?

It’s up to use to make sure that the way we live is honouring to God. Does our lifestyle reflect Godly principles? If we were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?

It’s up to us to do the things that we do to mark us out as ambassadors of another Kingdom. If we are Christians then we are full time reps for God. We might say what we do goes largely unnoticed, but that’s not true of God.

This is all so practical that it challenges me immensely. It’s very easy to be convicted that I don’t always do the right thing. In the line at the checkout, am I impatient with the person in front of me who suddenly decides they need something else from the other side of the shop? When I get sales calls to my house during dinner, am I still polite to the person on the other end of the phone?

I’m called to be a persuader, a reconciler, and an ambassador. We all are.

I receive a pop-up on my FeedReader application every day with a short verse or thought. Today’s pop-up was Hebrews 10:25

“Let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

I love this verse, and it seems so apt for what I do. In my line of work, I am surrounded by discouraging words like “That will never work”, “We’ve never done it that way before”, “That was really dumb”, or “Why doesn’t anyone do anything to change things?” It’s nothing but criticism and negative thinking.

On May 24, 1965, a 13 1/2 foot boat slipped quietly out of the marina at Falmouth, Massachusetts. Its destination was England. It would be the smallest boat ever to make the trip. Its name was ‘Tinkerbelle’. And its pilot was Robert Manry. He had been a copy editor for ten years and was bored, so he took a leave of absence to fulfill his secret dream.

Robert Manry was afraid, though not of the ocean. He was afraid of all those people who would try to talk him out of the trip. So he didn’t tell many people, just a few relatives and his wife, Virginia who was his greatest supporter and encourager.

The trip was anything but pleasant. He spent many sleepless nights trying to cross the shipping lanes without getting run down and sunk. Weeks at sea caused his food to become tasteless. Loneliness caused him to have hallucinations. His rudder broke three times.

Storms swept him overboard, and had it not been for the rope he had tied around his waist, he would never have made it back on board. Finally, after 78 days alone at sea, he sailed into Falmouth, England.

During his many nights, he fantasized about what he would do once he arrived in England. He expected simply to check into a hotel, eat dinner alone, then the next morning see if the Associated Press might be interested in his story.

But word of his approach had spread far and wide. To his amazement, three hundred vessels, with horns blasting, escorted ‘Tinkerbelle’ into port. And 40,000 people stood screaming and cheering him to shore.

Robert Manry became an overnight hero. And his story has been told around the world. But Robert Manry couldn’t have done it alone. Standing on the dock was an even greater hero, his wife Virginia. She had refused to be critical and negative about her husband’s trip. She gave him constant encouragement which enabled him to pursue and complete his dream.

Now I think about myself and the various people I know. We all hammer away at life, and sometimes people will complain and criticize us or what we are doing or what we are not doing. But then sometimes someone comes along and says “Keep going! Hang in there! Don’t quit! You can do it! God is on your side, so you can make it!”

I want to be that kind of person. In the Bible, Barnabus was that kind of person. For Robert Manry, his wife was that kind of person. Am I an encourager like them? Or am I something else? I know that I need encouragement in life, and so it figures that plenty of other people need encouragement in life too. Life can be horribly tough and mean, so I want to be an encourager to help someone through it.

Perhaps I should have a new mantra: “My name is James, and I am an encourager!”

The third podcast posted today, and it’s my favourite so far; Christian and I discuss the interesting topic of the prophetic edge that exists in leading worship. Head on over to the podcast page for download information.