What does it mean to be a revolutionary? We study the concept from history. We watch from our televisions as nations are changed, seemingly overnight. Yet most of us can not appreciate what it means to take part in something that transforms a culture, a people, or a society. The need for revolution seems mostly foreign to us. We aren't able to quite comprehend what it would mean to utterly and completely overthrow a powerful enemy and to thoroughly change something. Perhaps we should. Perhaps we should consider the needs before us, in the lives of people all around us, and even within ourselves. So many of us look to fill the needs of our hearts and souls with so many things that simply cannot satisfy. Then, from good intentions we often mean to help others from the same empty solutions. Yet, there remains only one solution. Only the love of Christ can truly fill the longings of the hearts of men. As we allow Him to utterly transform us then can we be positioned to carry that same life altering and peace filling love to others.
So, where are all the revolutionaries? If we don't know where to look we won't see them, and we won't know how to join them. More often than not they won't be found on the 5 o'clock news, the morning headlines, or the front page of most news sites. Yet, they can be found, and often are all around us. If I may let me show you what I mean.
Just two months ago, on April 27th, a devastating series of tornadoes ripped through the southern part of our country, especially the state of Alabama. So many cities looked worse than many war zones. I was deployed as part of a team of chaplains from Foursquare's Disaster Relief initiative and saw the destruction firsthand. Town after town had been laid waste. We talked with person after person who either lost loved ones, their homes, or places of work. Yet, we also saw something else. People immediately responded to the incredible needs with a super human effort. Churches were transformed into emergency shelters and distribution centers. They went through the demolished neighborhoods looking for anyone who needed help and they opened their doors to all who would enter. Restoration Church in Madison is one such place. Since many of their congregation had been through a Disaster Relief Training just a few months earlier they were well prepared to respond to the need. Nearly half of their church building was turned into a relief center, providing food and supplies for anyone affected by the tornadoes. They connected people with other agencies as needed, and coordinated the arrival and work of our chaplain teams. For many years they had already been a beacon of life and hope by preaching and living out the truth and love of Jesus. Then they stood and responded to a very specific need, and in so doing they helped to bring healing to their community. They are well living out their name as restoration is coming to those they touch. They stand as true revolutionaries fighting back the darkness for many and ushering in the light of Christ, both in word and deed.
I am also reminded of one particular chaplain I had the privilege of serving alongside. Sandy is one remarkable woman. As a young teen she overcame much because of the transforming touch of Christ she encountered. Years later, after being married and preparing for a life of ministry, she and her husband Steve (also one of our amazing chaplains) became lead pastors ministering to the streets of East Nashville. Yet, what seems so remarkable to me about Sandy is how she allows nothing to hold her back from faithfully following Jesus. Not long after arriving in Madison and joining our team I learned that she was battling Leukemia, along with a number of other ailments. Even still she never let this slow her down. In spite of her sickness she brought hope and comfort to people who had seemingly lost everything, including their own family members. I briefly wondered how she was able to do this, and do it so well. As I got to know her I realized that she had simply allowed the love of Christ to completely permeate her entire being and was therefore able to live as the child of God she is. Sandy is a woman fully committed to her Savior...a revolutionary.
So many of the people that our chaplain team met in Alabama had courageously faced devastation while not allowing it to define them. Their experiences in the storm mark tremendous change in their lives but are also part of many larger stories. Lylo, is one such young man whose courageous journey began many years earlier in South Chicago. While his appearance suggested there to be a real hardness about him, nothing could be further from the truth. His harsh tattoos and piercings were simply reminders of a former life and seemed to melt away as he revealed the warmth and kindness within. After inviting me in out of the heat with a big smile, offering me a cold bottle of water, and a seat beside him on the couch he explained his encounter the day of the tornado. As with many other visits with other tornado survivors I was again amazed at what he had endured, and how God had protected him. Then he began to tell me how Christ had rescued and changed his life, not from the tornado but from a life of dealing drugs and gang-bangin' in Chicago. His life was transformed when as a teenager he took a trip to Alabama to visit his grandparents and gave his heart to Jesus. He would never be the same, and years later would move there permanently, eventually getting married, and beginning to raise a family to love the same Father God who he himself had fallen in love with. His biggest concern as we talked was not the significant, and still un-repaired, damage to his home but the desire to be sure that his children would follow in his steps, the ones marking his new life...as a revolutionary follower of Christ.
Almost everyone we spoke with somehow held on to hope, sometimes through tears, and occasionally words of frustration. They knew they would be alright, their homes and businesses could be rebuilt, and they believed their lost loved ones were with their Savior. On many occasions they brought more encouragement to us then we seemed possible of offering them. So many of them simply knew whom they were anchored in and took comfort in knowing the Lord was with them. Their changed lives and their stories serve as a call to us. While most of us won't experience or be near to the kind of destruction born by a tornado we all are familiar with how cruel and painful life can be. We all know those whom while experiencing such cruelty have not the hope of Christ. Yet, Jesus calls to us today to stand and rise above whatever would seek to pull us down, to stand against the darkness that pervades so many. Like Restoration Church, Sandy, and Lylo, He calls us to open ourselves completely to His grace and to follow in His steps. His steps are those of the great revolutionary of all time. I don't know about you but I want to do my best to walk with Him.
So, where are all the revolutionaries? If we don't know where to look we won't see them, and we won't know how to join them. More often than not they won't be found on the 5 o'clock news, the morning headlines, or the front page of most news sites. Yet, they can be found, and often are all around us. If I may let me show you what I mean.
Just two months ago, on April 27th, a devastating series of tornadoes ripped through the southern part of our country, especially the state of Alabama. So many cities looked worse than many war zones. I was deployed as part of a team of chaplains from Foursquare's Disaster Relief initiative and saw the destruction firsthand. Town after town had been laid waste. We talked with person after person who either lost loved ones, their homes, or places of work. Yet, we also saw something else. People immediately responded to the incredible needs with a super human effort. Churches were transformed into emergency shelters and distribution centers. They went through the demolished neighborhoods looking for anyone who needed help and they opened their doors to all who would enter. Restoration Church in Madison is one such place. Since many of their congregation had been through a Disaster Relief Training just a few months earlier they were well prepared to respond to the need. Nearly half of their church building was turned into a relief center, providing food and supplies for anyone affected by the tornadoes. They connected people with other agencies as needed, and coordinated the arrival and work of our chaplain teams. For many years they had already been a beacon of life and hope by preaching and living out the truth and love of Jesus. Then they stood and responded to a very specific need, and in so doing they helped to bring healing to their community. They are well living out their name as restoration is coming to those they touch. They stand as true revolutionaries fighting back the darkness for many and ushering in the light of Christ, both in word and deed.
I am also reminded of one particular chaplain I had the privilege of serving alongside. Sandy is one remarkable woman. As a young teen she overcame much because of the transforming touch of Christ she encountered. Years later, after being married and preparing for a life of ministry, she and her husband Steve (also one of our amazing chaplains) became lead pastors ministering to the streets of East Nashville. Yet, what seems so remarkable to me about Sandy is how she allows nothing to hold her back from faithfully following Jesus. Not long after arriving in Madison and joining our team I learned that she was battling Leukemia, along with a number of other ailments. Even still she never let this slow her down. In spite of her sickness she brought hope and comfort to people who had seemingly lost everything, including their own family members. I briefly wondered how she was able to do this, and do it so well. As I got to know her I realized that she had simply allowed the love of Christ to completely permeate her entire being and was therefore able to live as the child of God she is. Sandy is a woman fully committed to her Savior...a revolutionary.
So many of the people that our chaplain team met in Alabama had courageously faced devastation while not allowing it to define them. Their experiences in the storm mark tremendous change in their lives but are also part of many larger stories. Lylo, is one such young man whose courageous journey began many years earlier in South Chicago. While his appearance suggested there to be a real hardness about him, nothing could be further from the truth. His harsh tattoos and piercings were simply reminders of a former life and seemed to melt away as he revealed the warmth and kindness within. After inviting me in out of the heat with a big smile, offering me a cold bottle of water, and a seat beside him on the couch he explained his encounter the day of the tornado. As with many other visits with other tornado survivors I was again amazed at what he had endured, and how God had protected him. Then he began to tell me how Christ had rescued and changed his life, not from the tornado but from a life of dealing drugs and gang-bangin' in Chicago. His life was transformed when as a teenager he took a trip to Alabama to visit his grandparents and gave his heart to Jesus. He would never be the same, and years later would move there permanently, eventually getting married, and beginning to raise a family to love the same Father God who he himself had fallen in love with. His biggest concern as we talked was not the significant, and still un-repaired, damage to his home but the desire to be sure that his children would follow in his steps, the ones marking his new life...as a revolutionary follower of Christ.
Almost everyone we spoke with somehow held on to hope, sometimes through tears, and occasionally words of frustration. They knew they would be alright, their homes and businesses could be rebuilt, and they believed their lost loved ones were with their Savior. On many occasions they brought more encouragement to us then we seemed possible of offering them. So many of them simply knew whom they were anchored in and took comfort in knowing the Lord was with them. Their changed lives and their stories serve as a call to us. While most of us won't experience or be near to the kind of destruction born by a tornado we all are familiar with how cruel and painful life can be. We all know those whom while experiencing such cruelty have not the hope of Christ. Yet, Jesus calls to us today to stand and rise above whatever would seek to pull us down, to stand against the darkness that pervades so many. Like Restoration Church, Sandy, and Lylo, He calls us to open ourselves completely to His grace and to follow in His steps. His steps are those of the great revolutionary of all time. I don't know about you but I want to do my best to walk with Him.
Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
