I Dare You to Move

"I dare you to move. I dare you to move."

I dig Switchfoot, but even by the way I confess that, you can tell I am no longer hip. Post-hip is what my friend Marty likes to say. Post-hip is when you have moved past the idea of needing to be hip, though actually it is more what you use to comfort yourself when hip has moved past needing you. But this isn’t about hip; not today. It’s about moving and needing and needing to move.

I hear an awful lot of talk these days from people about God’s purpose for their life. Everywhere I go hear about people praying that God will let them in on the little secret He has stashed away in the next best selling book - the secret that clearly lays out their next 60 or so years on the planet.

I spent 6 years on my knees praying for God to show me how He wanted to use me. Week after week, I prayed and believed that God would show me His plan for my life. And I reasoned that as I became a faithful steward of a few things He was preparing to put me in charge of many things. Did I mention that I am an ego maniac? But I don’t believe that anymore, except for the ego maniac part -- I may be a heretic, but I am honest with myself.

Those are hard words to say these days. Blame Rick Warren if you will, but these days it seems that everybody that even drives near a church believes that God has a wonderful detailed plan for their life that will magically open up one day (soon) and at that point they will cruise (on the will of God) into a beautiful sunset of success (just as soon as the mystery is revealed). And me, I am just a heretic.

The people that call me a heretic point to Jeremiah 1 for their proof. In the Message, it reads like this:

Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.

But most other versions are less general about those plans. The CEV reads

The LORD said: … before you were born, I chose you to speak for me to the nations.

In most other version, it isn’t about a life that was specifically planned, but rather that Jeremiah was chosen to speak to the nations. Well, guess what? In Matthew 28, Jesus said the same thing to each and every one of us:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.

And in Isaiah 58, God spoke and said:

…spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed…
… then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken

It’s all right there in starlight and bible black. But maybe I should pray about it some more. Maybe I should wait for a real sign.

Please overlook my facetiousness and please don’t misunderstand me in respect to prayer. Prayer is the well from which I draw all my strength, but as much power as can be found when you are on your knees, there is much more momentum when you are on your feet.

For me it finally became evident that the answer was clear. I needed to do something. I needed to move. I think Jonathan felt this way in I Samuel 14. The Philistines were waiting to battle the people of God and God clearly wanted them to destroy the Philistine army. But the Israelite king and his army were waiting, possibly sleeping. But not the king’s son. Jonathan couldn’t wait anymore. He heard God clearly and God was saying “I dare you to move.” So he moved. Jonathan had no idea of any specific plan, beyond moving into the will of God.

Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.

Jonathan didn’t wait for a specific plan. He knew the basics: beat the Philistines. He didn’t pray long about how or when. He just moved in the direction of the will of God. Maybe most bravely, he did it only for the will of God and not for his sure success. “Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf.” is how Jonathan encouraged his armor bearer. And then they moved and then they won. And Israel won a great battle that day. Not because of the strength of Jonathan. You see, when Jonathan started to move, God showed up.

So I am saying to you, today, I dare you to move. And just like Jonathan’s armor bearer, let me add, "Do all that you have in mind, I am with you heart and soul."

The Revolution Will Not Be Podcast

“Look out Mama, there’s a white boat coming up the river.
With a big red beacon, and a flag, and a man on the rail.”

I love that song, Powderfinger, by Neal Young. I used to have a music buddy named Steve who sang that song. Steve was a big burly fisherman who spent his summers working the docks in Alaska and traveling around the country in the winter, usually stopping in to see us and to grace us with his music contribution. One of the crazy things about Steve was, despite his dockworker vocation, his thick beard and big burly frame, he sang with a beautiful high voice and could pull off any Neal Young song. We always played Powderfinger when he was in town and it always awakened a thirst for Neal songs that lay dormant the rest of the year.

Today, though, that song takes on a different meaning for me. It speaks through thinly veiled metaphor of something confrontational coming into my life, into my spiritual life. When this whole thing blows wide open, I will have Reggie McNeal to blame; Reggie, Erwin Raphael McManus and maybe, somehow, even Steve.

I have been reading a lot lately and as winter is beginning to pack its bags and head north, making way for spring, I can feel a revolution growing in my heart. It is a revolution about my life in the Church. Warning: the books “Chasing Daylight” and “The Present Future” should not be read back to back unless you are ready to either start or join a revolution. If, however, you have this dormant feeling that there must be something more to this whole Jesus thing than cool music, multimedia and volunteering to park cars on Sunday, then they must be read. And they must be read now, because something is getting ready to happen and if you need something to happen in your life, then your time is coming.

Rick Warren is hailing in the second reformation, but I don’t know if even he is ready for what it is going to look like. It is going to destroy most people’s concept of church and reinstate Jesus’ concept of church. It is going to leave a lot of people behind, but sweep a lot of other people into its glorious wake. It’s not going to be a reformation, it’s going to be a revolution. And no church building will be able to hold it, nor will there be a seminary capable of controlling it.

In 1970, Gil Scott-Heron made an album containing the song, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. Grasping the deeper meaning of poetry is not my strong suit, but to me, it was about refusing to allow culture to numb you to the realities of what needed to be done. This next revolution will inject life back into the numbness of American church culture. And in semi-tribute to Gil Scott-Heron, here is my remix.

The revolution will not be podcast.
The revolution will not be simulcast.
The revolution will not be streamed.

The revolution will not be downloaded, uploaded or ftp’d.
The revolution will not have a web site.
The revolution will not be on TBN.
The revolution will not be on CBS, CNN or Daystar.
The revolution will not be on Christian radio, on Christian records or in Christian bookstores.
The revolution will not have an association, a workshop or an awards show.

The revolution will not have a theme song.
The revolution will not have a facelift or a wig.
The revolution will not have an ATM in its lobby.
The revolution will not even have a lobby.
The revolution will not have a lobbyist.
The revolution will not have a Political Action Committee.
The revolution will not have an inactive committee or an inactive members list.

The revolution will not require a class, a curriculum or a certification.
The revolution will not take place in a church.
The revolution will blow the doors and windows off the church.
The revolution will take place in the streets.

The revolution will not be in a sermon.
The revolution will not have a preacher.
The revolution will be about Jesus.
The revolution will be about God.
The revolution will not ask for you to make time for it in your life.
The revolution will become your life.

The revolution will not be about content. It will be about contact.
The revolution will not be about belief. It will be about behavior.
The revolution will not be about your head. It will be about your hands and feet; about you becoming the hands and feet of Jesus for the revolution.

The revolution will not have a start date, an end date, an agenda or a plan.
The revolution was beginning before the beginning and will be the only thing spinning at the ending.
The revolution will not be about a church. The revolution is the Church.
The revolution is the heartbeat of a billion brothers and sisters giving their lives to turn this world into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Become the revolution.