[feel free to join Anna and me after church this Sunday as we talk about David Zahl's book Seculosity. Even if you haven't read the book, you're welcome to join us. It will give us the chance to talk about what areas of life we feel like we have to win in order to have enough, whether that be parenting, work, politics, leisure, sports.]
If you know our family, you know our home is truly a 'living' home. Just yesterday, another shipment of baby chickens arrived at our local post office, and Anna and Elise were outside prepping the brooder area for them, including refreshing the bedding and setting up the heat lamp. So, you shouldn't be surprised to know that someone in our house has recently begun to dabble in the art of home-brewed kombucha.
Before you report us to any authorities, please allow me to explain more what kombucha is. Those of you connected with the world of health and wholeness know that kombucha is a type of fermented tea. The goal in drinking it is to use the "good" bacteria of the kombucha to slowly strengthen and support your own health system.
What interests me is the brewing process itself - especially in relation to our life as Christians.
Kombucha is all about generating an initial SCOBY or "mother" that then serves as the generating influence on all later batches. Before I knew what Anna was up to, I saw a big ol' mason jar sitting on the counter, and I thought we had pulled out a lost item from the back of our refrigerator. The healthy mass of bacteria that was the "mother" of this new system rested on the top like some darkened jelly-fish, and different textures and shades of liquid filled the jar. I couldn't guarantee that there wasn't something alive in there. It turns out there was.
"You're going to drink that?" I couldn't help but ask.
But, wait. It gets even better.
The large mason jar of kombucha ended up spawning all sorts of smaller bottles that now took up residence in our fridge. As best as I could figure, the kombucha was multiplying overnight. I felt myself slipping into the world of Stranger Things.
However, I couldn't knock it before I tried it. So, there I was a few days ago, pulling out a sealed bottle to give it a go.
It was only after I put the bottle to my lips that I realized the slimy mass near the surface. The "mother" truly had replicated, creating its own bio-mass in each new bottle. Anna kindly informed me that I could go ahead and pull that little mass of health out of the bottle before I drank anymore.
A life-giving agent. That's what kombucha is all about.
When we really get the gist of Christianity, we also understand how true this is for us as persons of faith, hope, and love.
Christianity is all about allowing the right life-giving agent be at work within us and through us. Our life as Christians is not something we come up with on our own. It isn't something we generate. Living as disciples of Jesus is simply all about letting the life, teachings, ways and activity of Jesus live in us. We let theSpirit dwell within us.
The healthiest churches are like a good kombucha start as well. Healthy churches remain deeply committed to living life in the Spirit, in touch with the heart of Jesus, and devoted to staying "one" with our Heavenly Father. Healthy churches manage to let this one, central life-giving agent guide and direct all of their activities. When this happens, the life-giving agent of Jesus spreads into the hearts and minds of the believers.
The life-giving agent of Jesus animates the body and allows the membership to increase and flourish. Each new person that is brought into the community touches this life-giving source and begins to experience the fullness of life Jesus desires for each of us.
Then, the life-giving agent of Jesus sends the body of Christ out into the community to share its life with others (minus the slimy mass of bacteria, hopefully).
The point David Zahl makes in his book Seculosity is that we're looking to so many other things to be that life-giving agent for us. And culturally, it's not leading to life. It's leading to dis-ease and division and unrest and tired bodies walking through the week.
Before you report us to any authorities, please allow me to explain more what kombucha is. Those of you connected with the world of health and wholeness know that kombucha is a type of fermented tea. The goal in drinking it is to use the "good" bacteria of the kombucha to slowly strengthen and support your own health system.
What interests me is the brewing process itself - especially in relation to our life as Christians.
Kombucha is all about generating an initial SCOBY or "mother" that then serves as the generating influence on all later batches. Before I knew what Anna was up to, I saw a big ol' mason jar sitting on the counter, and I thought we had pulled out a lost item from the back of our refrigerator. The healthy mass of bacteria that was the "mother" of this new system rested on the top like some darkened jelly-fish, and different textures and shades of liquid filled the jar. I couldn't guarantee that there wasn't something alive in there. It turns out there was.
"You're going to drink that?" I couldn't help but ask.
But, wait. It gets even better.
The large mason jar of kombucha ended up spawning all sorts of smaller bottles that now took up residence in our fridge. As best as I could figure, the kombucha was multiplying overnight. I felt myself slipping into the world of Stranger Things.
However, I couldn't knock it before I tried it. So, there I was a few days ago, pulling out a sealed bottle to give it a go.
It was only after I put the bottle to my lips that I realized the slimy mass near the surface. The "mother" truly had replicated, creating its own bio-mass in each new bottle. Anna kindly informed me that I could go ahead and pull that little mass of health out of the bottle before I drank anymore.
A life-giving agent. That's what kombucha is all about.
When we really get the gist of Christianity, we also understand how true this is for us as persons of faith, hope, and love.
Christianity is all about allowing the right life-giving agent be at work within us and through us. Our life as Christians is not something we come up with on our own. It isn't something we generate. Living as disciples of Jesus is simply all about letting the life, teachings, ways and activity of Jesus live in us. We let theSpirit dwell within us.
The healthiest churches are like a good kombucha start as well. Healthy churches remain deeply committed to living life in the Spirit, in touch with the heart of Jesus, and devoted to staying "one" with our Heavenly Father. Healthy churches manage to let this one, central life-giving agent guide and direct all of their activities. When this happens, the life-giving agent of Jesus spreads into the hearts and minds of the believers.
The life-giving agent of Jesus animates the body and allows the membership to increase and flourish. Each new person that is brought into the community touches this life-giving source and begins to experience the fullness of life Jesus desires for each of us.
Then, the life-giving agent of Jesus sends the body of Christ out into the community to share its life with others (minus the slimy mass of bacteria, hopefully).
The point David Zahl makes in his book Seculosity is that we're looking to so many other things to be that life-giving agent for us. And culturally, it's not leading to life. It's leading to dis-ease and division and unrest and tired bodies walking through the week.
A great question to ask ourselves personally and as a church is this one: where, honestly, are we seeking to get our energy for life?
Is the life-giving work of Christ at the center of my life?
Or has something else displaced it? Am I looking for that life through my job, my spouse, my kids, this country, winning some political battle?
I know myself. I know how often I let the things of this world so quickly displace walking with the Holy Spirit, in humble trust, in letting God's grace and strength be at work, in trusting in Jesus'enoughness.
I've been thinking a lot this week about how anytime we move from living in that simple trust with God, we are destined to end up addicted to some other source. We don't like to think of it that way. But, it's true. And the gospel of Seculosity is just as dangerous as any other narcotic or substance that robs us of life.
How can you make more room for the Spirit to grow and flourish in your heart and mind today?
Go ahead and give yourself that permission to drink from the good cup.
Take that time today to be refreshed by the Spirit of the living God. Let it dwell richly in you and share it with others.
~Pastor Wes
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