"...but whatever your original intentions, you have become truly lost."
-Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) to Bruce Wayne
(Christian Bale) at the start of Batman's career in Batman BeginsI've never hidden the fact that I'm a huge Batman fan. In 2005, Batman Begins began a movie trilogy that would contain some great quotes, and some pretty powerful life lessons that have impacted me greatly.
The quote above has been rattling around in my head for a couple years now, in regards to the Gate, and my leadership of it. We set out to create a church for a young generation, one that reached out to those that other churches couldn't or wouldn't. We wanted to have open arms, but also hold tightly to the ways of Christ- and that might mean telling people that we would love them, in spite of their sins. We would be a church that reached people, through service, and through missions, and through meeting them where they were in life.
We did some of that. And at times, we saw a glimpse of what we were meant to do. We saw wonderful work done through Big Event, or through sitting at a bar talking with people, or in our one on one discipleship. We had good services at Hurricane Harry's and we grew...sort of.
But something has felt wrong for a while. Something has felt...hollow.
We started the Gate because of a hatred for the hollowness many young people felt from church. Hatred of a culture within the church that created 'pew fillers' or warm bodies that never did anything that connected to Christ or demonstrated Him to the world. We started the Gate because we loved Christ and wanted to see His love shared with a potent and powerful generation of potential believers. We started the Gate because we believed God was calling us to College Station to start a church in a bar to be on the frontlines of Christ's battle for the souls of college students and young adults. We started the Gate to be a part of God's movement and passion and hope for the world.
But we- rather, I- have become truly lost.
I have become convinced that many pastors, and thus, many churches, either sell out to become palatable to the masses and the church establishment, or they burn out trying to change the world. The few who don't do either of those things, they become something different.
They become symbols of Christ that our world desperately needs.
It is my desire that our church will be a symbol- 2 Corinthians 5 would say "ambassador"- of Christ to our world. And our world, is Bryan College Station.
But for our church to become that symbol, we must all- starting with me- be a living symbol of Christ. The kind of people who others can see a difference in. Not because of a bumper sticker or t-shirt or necklace, but because of a compassion, a love, a joy that overflows, and a readiness to admit our mistakes when we do fail.
Being a symbol is not at all about individuals or churches becoming famous or celebrities. In fact, if that happens, I'd argue we can't be that symbol. Instead, being a symbol of Christ is all about acknowledging that you are less, and He is more.
In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne says he wants to take a symbol, and chooses a bat. But that is not the symbol he creates. People do not begin to change because he is a bat- they change because of the content of his actions- he is a symbol of justice.
The Gate, or any church, is the bat costume we put on. Our true symbol must be Christ- that must be what people see when they look at us.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
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