Tag Archives: Domain

The Longing to be Known

There is something in us that wants to be seen, known and understood. We want someone who notices when something is wrong before we have to explain it. The comfortable feeling of not having to try to impress others. And, the longing for someone to understand our quirks.  A person who has seen our worst, and somehow still wants to be around us.

Isn’t that one of the things we love about a great friendship or marriage? And yet, at the same time, we spend an incredible amount of energy making sure people don’t know too much about us. 

We tend to tell the parts of our story that make us look the way we want others to see us. When people ask, “How are you doing?” We give generic answers like, “Great!” Honestly, who knows if we’re great. It doesn’t matter. It’s just this tension inside of us wanting to be known and at the same time keeping people at a distance.

WE WERE CREATED TO BE KNOWN

The opening chapters of Genesis describe something that is almost difficult for us to imagine. Genesis 2:25 says:

“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

Obviously, the verse is describing physical nakedness, but there’s something bigger happening. It’s a relationship where there is nothing to hide. A relationship without shame or pretending. No wondering, “If you knew this about me, would you still love me?” They are completely exposed and completely safe.

That’s the kind of relationship humanity was created to experience, one with God and with others. But then Genesis 3 enters into the story. Humanity decides we want God’s creation without God’s authority. Adam and Eve reject God, and sin fractures everything God created to be good.

AND THEN WE START HIDING

Immediately after Adam and Eve eat the fruit, Genesis says: “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” And what do they do? They cover themselves with fig leaves. Then when they hear God walking in the garden, they hide.

Before sin, naked and unashamed. After sin, cover and hide. Nothing about the human body changed between Genesis 2 and Genesis 3, but something changed inside of them. For the first time, humanity experiences shame and fear, and we’ve been covering ourselves ever since. 

Today, we just have better fig leaves. We can cover ourselves with success, romance, money, accomplishment, or even the image we present to other people. Shopping and entertainment can become ways to distract ourselves from things we’d rather not face.

Even religion can become a modern-day fig leaf. We can learn to say the right things, make the right choices, and present ourselves in a way that keeps anyone from looking too closely. The fig leaves have changed, but the instinct hasn’t. We still want to cover the parts of ourselves we’re afraid for others to see.

AND THEN GOD SHOWS UP

One of my favorite moments in Genesis 3 happens immediately after Adam and Eve hide. God calls out to Adam: “Where are you?” Obviously, God isn’t wandering around the garden wondering where Adam went. He knows. That’s what makes the question so powerful. Adam is hiding from Someone who already knows where he is, and God still moves toward him.

This is why Jesus is so important. When Jesus arrives, He knows our souls are longing to be known. In John 4, Jesus meets a woman at a well. She has a complicated story. Jesus knows it. He knows about her past. He knows the parts of her story she probably wouldn’t lead with when meeting someone new. And yet Jesus sits down and talks with her.

That’s what makes Jesus so different. Most of us think: If you really knew me, you might not love me. Jesus reverses that fear. He already knows us, and He moves toward us anyway. There is nothing we’re going to confess that causes Jesus to say: “Wait. You did what?” Jesus knows the parts of our story we’ve worked really hard to keep hidden. And He still went to the cross for us.

TO BE FULLY KNOWN

Maybe that’s why we want someone to really know us? We were created for a kind of relationship where we could be completely known without hiding. Sin made us afraid of that.

So, now we spend our lives looking for people who will know us while simultaneously making sure they don’t know too much. But Jesus offers something different. He doesn’t ask us to convince Him that we’re doing great. He already knows how we’re doing! He knows when we’re afraid. He knows we’re faking and really ashamed. He knows when we are trying to keep areas of our life covered up. And He hasn’t moved away. 

In fact, He’s moving toward us right now. It’s because the thing we’ve been looking for all along isn’t someone who thinks we’re impressive. It’s someone who knows exactly who we are and still says: “Come to Me.”

What We Love About Nostalgia

Have you had those moments when you hear a song we haven’t heard in 20 years and suddenly we’re back in high school? What about when you drive through an old neighborhood and slow down to look at the house where we grew up? We love nostalgia!

We love to pull out pictures from when our children were little and wonder where all the time went. There are things we say like, “Those were the good old days!” Or, we somehow look back on those days and only remember the sweet moments? There is something strange about the way human beings think about going back to a time when life was simpler.

What is it about home or a previous time in life that pulls on us? Surely, our longing for home is about more than a house or a city. Doesn’t it feel like somewhere deep within the human experience is a longing to return to a time where everything was familiar?

WE WERE CREATED WITH A HOME

The opening chapters of Genesis describe humanity at home. Adam and Eve are in a garden created by God. It’s in those pages we see meaningful work. They have everything they need. In fact, Scripture says they were “naked and unashamed.” Sounds like a good time!

We don’t see people worrying about bills or making up stories to impress their friends. There’s nobody visiting the hospital or counting calories. In fact, we don’t even see conversations about those things because everything is perfect. They are home.

But then Genesis 3 happens. Humanity decides we want God’s creation without God’s authority. Adam and Eve reject God, and sin fractures everything God created to be good. By the end of Genesis 3, God sends Adam and Eve out of the garden. Genesis says:

“Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden…”

And then the language gets even stronger:

“He drove out the man…”

God places cherubim and a flaming sword at the entrance, guarding the way to the tree of life. Adam and Eve can’t just turn around and go back, so that from that point forward humanity has lost its home.

WE KEEP TRYING TO GO BACK

I am sure there are some people who will be dismissive to those words in Genesis because the Bible is supposed to be outdated, archaic, and unable to relate to the challenges of modern people today, but we can’t deny the inner desire we have to go back. 

We love movies like Back to the Future. They resonate with our souls, because we love the possibility of being to go back. We love the idea of watching movies about history, and we love thinking about our friends from childhood and wondering, “What ever happened to so and so?”

Twenty-One Pilots has a hit song called “Stressed Out” and in the song there is a lyric that says:

Wish we could turn back time to the good old days
When our mama sang us to sleep, but now we’re stressed out
Used to play pretend, give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship, and then we’d fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space, but now they’re laughin’ at our face
Sayin’, “Wake up, you need to make money, ” yeah

Is it just people overwhelmed by stress? Maybe? But all those moments will allow us to remember a part of our story, but those memories never actually take us home. Maybe it’s because what we’re longing for isn’t really the old house, the old neighborhood, or the simpler season? Maybe we’re longing for what those things represent?

Skyler Grey wrote a song called, “Coming Home.”  In the song there are lyrics of wanting to go home to a place that was familiar and safe. It was a part of life where one would find rest and belonging.

A place where everything and everyone we love is finally where they’re supposed to be. And no matter how hard we try, we can’t quite get there, but Genesis 3 tells us why. It’s because we’re all living east of Eden.

HOME ISN’T JUST A PLACE

There’s also another problem. Even if we could somehow recreate everything exactly the way it used to be, it still wouldn’t completely satisfy us. Because the deepest loss in Genesis 3 wasn’t a garden or a location. Our deepest loss is the presence of God.

Adam and Eve didn’t merely lose beautiful scenery. They were driven away from the place where they had experienced unhindered life with their Creator. That’s the exile underneath all our other exiles. And humanity has been trying to find its way home ever since.

We begin by chasing after that best friend, and for a season a best friend can be incredibly meaningful. But inevitably there’s going to be cracks and fractures in those friendships that leave us in a place of loss.  As we get older we will try to replicate those pursuits with romantic relationships, goals and career objectives, but again, each of those will be met with different challenges.

Studies show that millennials love experiences. They coined the phrase FOMO because they didn’t want to miss out anything life has to offer. There’s nothing wrong with chasing after experiences, but inevitably those experiences will always leave us chasing after another experience. Because if our deepest problem is separation from God, changing our address won’t solve it. 

AND THEN JESUS SHOWS UP

This is what makes the words of Jesus so interesting. In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them. Thomas responds with the question humanity has been asking since Genesis 3: “How can we know the way?” And Jesus answers: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

Think about that. Humanity has been driven from the garden. The way back is guarded. We can’t become moral, successful, or religious enough to get back. And then Jesus says: “I am the way.” He doesn’t simply give us directions home.

Jesus becomes the way home. Genesis 3 ends with humanity being sent away because of our sin. At the cross, Jesus takes our sin upon Himself. He experiences rejection, suffering, death, and cries out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” In that moment, Jesus enters our exile so that exiles like us can be brought home.

The Way Home

The home we’re looking for isn’t our childhood house, or a memory of an easier part of life. We were created for life with God, and ever since Genesis 3 humanity has been trying to find its way home.

The next time an old song takes you back, or you drive through the old neighborhood and wish you could have that moment one more time, don’t be surprised by the ache. Maybe it’s a reminder that we were made to be at home with God? That’s the surprising hope of Jesus. We spend so much of our lives wishing we could go back, but Jesus doesn’t promise to take us backward. He promises to bring us home to the Father.

What’s Crouching at Your Door?

Most of us don’t wake up one morning and decide to blow up our lives. We don’t suddenly decide to destroy a friendship, become bitter toward our spouse, compromise our integrity, or walk away from God.

Usually, it happens slowly. Someone from work doesn’t something to hurt us. We replay the events in our head over and over. Then, we interpret motives and characterize the person based on those interpretations.

Eventually, hurt becomes resentment. Resentment begins to feel justified. And before long, we find ourselves saying or doing things we never imagined we would do. This patterns is consistent throughout all of humanity.

Something Is Crouching at the Door

We see this progression in one of the earliest stories in the Bible. In Genesis 4, Cain and his brother Abel both bring offerings to God. God regards Abel and his offering, but He doesn’t regard Cain and his offering.

Cain becomes angry and discouraged, but what happens next is fascinating. God moves toward Cain. He asks: “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” God already knows the answer. He’s inviting Cain to look below the surface at his emotions and motivations.

“Why are you angry?

And why has your countenance fallen?”

Then God warns him: “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” That’s a disturbing picture. Sin isn’t presented as an innocent object sitting beside the road waiting for Cain to stumble across it. It’s pictured like a predator crouching at the door.

“Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Cain has a decision to make. And tragically, Cain doesn’t listen. His anger progresses into murder and he kills his brother Abel.

The Progression Usually Starts Small

Cain’s story is extreme, but the progression is painfully familiar. Maybe someone really did hurt you? The hurt itself isn’t imaginary, but then you start dwelling on it. You replay the conversation while you’re driving. Or, you imagine what you should have said? it all starts with –

  • HURT
  • DESIRE
  • PASSION
  • DEATH

It is at the passion layer of our soul that we begin to justify and dehumanize a person so that we feel our action of withdrawal, gossip, slander, or violence is justified. This is how sin crouches at our door and masters us!

That’s why one of the most courageous prayers we can pray is the prayer of Psalm 139, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” Not just, “God, show me what they’re doing wrong.” “God, show me what’s happening inside me.”

God Keeps Moving Toward Cain

But there’s another pattern in Cain’s story that is easy to miss. Cain keeps moving away from God, but God keeps moving toward Cain. In Genesis 4 we see the Lord asking questions, following up, pressing in, and every time Cain pushes Him away. Even when Cain is facing the consequences of what he’s done, God still extends mercy toward him.

Cain’s tragedy isn’t that nobody warned him. Cain’s tragedy is that he wouldn’t listen. And that’s where Cain’s story becomes our story. We like to imagine ourselves as Abel, the innocent person being hurt by all the Cains of the world.

But if we’re honest, we are more familiar with Cain. We know what it’s like to hold onto bitterness. We know what it’s like to use words to hurt someone. And, we know what it’s like to justify what’s happening inside us. It’s because sin has crouched at all of our doors!

Jesus Comes Toward People Like Cain

That’s why Jesus is such good news. God didn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up and find our way back to Him. He came to us. Jesus took on flesh and drew near to people who were far from God. At the cross, He took our sin upon Himself.

Genesis says Abel’s blood cried out from the ground for justice. But Hebrews 12:24 says the blood of Jesus “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” It’s because Jesus blood cries out for mercy. At the cross, we see both: God’s justice against sin and God’s mercy toward sinners.

Jesus stood in our place and took the judgment we deserved so that people like Cain, and people like us, could receive forgiveness and life. That means we don’t have to hide what’s going on below the surface. We don’t have to pretend we’re not bitter, or pretend we’re not angry. Jesus already knows, and He came toward us anyway.

It’s because of Jesus, we don’t have to sit in the betrayal of the friend who hurt us and pretend what happened was okay. We can trust God with justice and know there is forgiveness available to all who call on His name!

Don’t Make Cain’s Mistake

Genesis 4 eventually tells us that Cain “went out from the presence of the LORD.” That’s the tragedy. God moved toward Cain and Cain moved away from the Lord. So when God begins exposing something crouching at our door, let’s not make Cain’s mistake. Let’s turn to Him. Let’s invite Him into the darkest parts of our soul, because we know He isn’t coming for condemnation. He’s coming for freedom!

Why Do We Keep Thinking Life Should Be Easier?

There is something strange about the way human beings think about challenges in life. We know life is hard. We have experienced difficult relationships, financial pressure, health problems, disappointing careers, aging parents, challenging children, and circumstances that didn’t work out the way we hoped.

And yet, somewhere in the back of our minds, we keep thinking: eventually life is going to get easier. As a student we think, “I just need to make it through this semester.” When we are parents we think, “I just need to make it through this stage.” And, in all of life we think, “I just need to make it to the weekend or my next vacation.”

But have you noticed that we never seem to arrive? There is always something else that is going to create challenges and yet we have this quirky part of our personality that keeps expecting life to be easy.

LIFE WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THIS HARD

The opening chapters of Genesis give us an interesting picture of life. Genesis 1–2 describes a world created by God where everything is perfect. There is work, but work isn’t frustrating. Somehow relationships and responsibilities are easy and seamlessly flow from one thought to the next. 

Adam is placed in the garden to work and care for it. But then Genesis 3 happens. In that moment, humanity decides we want God’s creation without God’s authority, and sin fractures everything God created to be good.

God tells Adam: “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” And then: “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you.” Something has changed. Adam will still work. But now his work will fight back.

He will plant something he wants and something he doesn’t want will grow alongside it. Have you noticed we don’t have to fertilize weeds? They just grow! They thrive! Nobody walks into the backyard and says, “Come look at all my crabgrass!” That’s still our experience today with every part of life!

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE THORNS

There are going to be seasons we work really hard on our marriage and conflict still shows up. Raising children can be a blast, but there’s no secret method. It’s going to be hard! Eating healthy and working out is always good for our bodies, but it can all be wiped out in a few weeks the moment we stop. It’s because thorns and thistles in life are going to show up!

We know this is a part of life, and yet we keep believing we’re one change away from finally escaping them. There is this sneaky thought in our head that the next job or next relationship is going to make it all better.

There’s nothing wrong with improving our circumstances in life. Sometimes we really do need to make changes. But eventually the new circumstances develop their own thorns, and that’s the tension in life.

WE KEEP TRYING TO FIND EDEN

Think about how much of life is organized around the pursuit of comfort. We genuinely believe if we made more money life would be easier. The allure of the next phase of technology is always giving us this illusion that our life could be easier.

How many mattress commercials have we seen where they prey upon our fatigue, exhaustion, and restlessness of our soul, and then say, “You need the next great mattress that will fix everything?”

Again, none of those things are necessarily bad. The problem is what we expect from them. We keep thinking: maybe this will finally give me rest. And sometimes it does. For a while that vacation can be just what we needed. The new house will give us the space we have been wanting for our family. But, then something happens! Another thorn pops up that ruins it all and it feels like we have to start all over.

AND THEN JESUS SHOWS UP

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus enters a world full of exhausted people and says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” It’s almost as though Jesus is speaking directly into this ancient longing humanity has carried since Genesis 3.

We say, “I’m tired.” Jesus says, “Come to Me.” We say, “I just need life to settle down.” Jesus says, “Come to Me.” We say, “I just want some rest.” Jesus says, “Come to Me…and I will give you rest. Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “Come to Me and I’ll make your life easy, remove difficulty, never get sick, and remove all those thorns from our life.” Jesus offers rest without promising ease, which is an important distinction. The rest Jesus offers isn’t the absence of difficult circumstances. It’s life with Him in the middle of those circumstances.

LIFE IS STILL GOING TO BE HARD

Following Jesus doesn’t take us out of Genesis 3. There are still thorns and thistles with Jesus. There are still nights when we wake up at 3 a.m. and suddenly our brain decides this is the perfect time to solve every problem in our life.

But the gospel changes how we walk through those moments. In Christ, we don’t have to know how everything is going to turn out and know the answer to fix every person. Sometimes we are going to cry out in bold prayers and sometimes it will feel like nothing is changing.

But, because we are with Jesus we can walk through those circumstances and we can wait on Him and His will to be accomplished in our life, because we’re with Jesus. The follower of Jesus is only going to find so much rest in the comforts that this world has to offer. Our ultimate rest comes through faith in Jesus as we rest in Him. 

MAYBE COMFORT ISN’T WHAT WE’RE REALLY LOOKING FOR

So why do we keep thinking life should eventually get easier? Maybe because we were made for something this world, in its present condition, cannot give us. We were made for life with God without thorns.

Genesis tells us why the thorns came. And Jesus shows up offering the thing we’ve been trying to manufacture ever since. One day, Jesus will remove the thorns completely. The curse will be gone and all things will be made new.

But until then, maybe we can stop being surprised that life is difficult? Maybe we can stop believing we’re one circumstance away from finally arriving at comfort. And maybe the next time life gets difficult, instead of immediately asking, “How do I make this go away?” We can also ask, “How do I walk through this with Jesus and wait on Him?”

Why Do We Want to Live Forever?

There is something strange about the way human beings think about death. We know we’re going to die. Nobody is surprised by this information, and yet something deep within humanity keeps reaching for life. Why is that?”

One would think going to a funeral would be a big clue, or the fact that we see ourselves aging over the years. And yet, we spend an incredible amount of time, energy, and money trying not to die.

David Sinclair, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School and prominent longevity researcher, has even discussedthe possibility that advances in aging research could dramatically extend human lifespan. Think about that. We aren’t just trying to live healthier. We’re trying to figure out how to keep living.

In addition, it doesn’t take too many conversations with friends to hear them talk about taking supplements, drinking shakes, and trying any new fad to help them prolong death as much as possible. 

We monitor our blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate, sleep cycles, steps, calories, and whatever else our watch decides we should be worried about today. None of those things are bad, and taking care of our bodies is good. But, why is everyone so determined to stay alive?

DEATH ISN’T NORMAL

Sometimes people will say at a funeral, “Death is just a natural part of life.” But we don’t really believe that do we? If death is simply natural, why do we fight it so hard? Why does the death of someone we love feel so wrong? Maybe it’s because somewhere deep within the human experience, we know death isn’t the way things are supposed to be. 

The opening chapters of Genesis tell a very different story about death than our culture often does. Genesis 1–2 describes humanity living in God’s creation with access to life for eternity. There’re no texts from a family member in the middle of the night about someone going to the hospital. Everything is perfect! But, then Genesis 3 happens and sin fractures everything God created to be good.

One of those consequences is that death is coming, “For you are dust and dust you shall return.” Genesis doesn’t ask us to make peace with death by pretending death is beautiful. Genesis says death is an enemy. Something has gone terribly wrong and death is like an alarm to humanity going off, “Something is wrong.”

DEATH IS COMING

Maybe that explains something about humanity? We were created for life, so that even though we know death is coming, we are trying our hardest to live as long as possible, so that we don’t have to think about the inevitable. 

Obviously, there is nothing wrong with going to the doctor or exercising. Please go to the doctor. But underneath our efforts to extend life is an interesting human longing: we don’t want this to end. But Genesis 3 keeps ringing the alarm: death is coming. 

AND THEN JESUS SHOWS UP

Isn’t it interesting that when Jesus shows up He largely talks about life? It’s like He knows the longings of our soul! Jesus could talk about so many different subjects but instead He makes bold claims like, “I am life!”

In fact, Jesus confronts death at the cross and 3 days later conquers death. Jesus doesn’t simply offer people advice about how to make the most of the years they have left. He doesn’t give helpful tips on how to live life. Instead, Jesus says, “I know where you can find life!”

Elsewhere Jesus describes Himself as the bread of life. In a conversation with a woman Jesus offers living water. It’s almost as though Jesus keeps speaking directly into this ancient longing humanity has carried since Genesis 3.

We say: “I don’t want to die.” Jesus says: “Come to Me and you can live.” We have a longing for something that lasts and Jesus says, “Come to Me and you will find everlasting life.” Genesis 3 says humanity will return to the dust, so Jesus goes into the grave, the very thing humanity has spent its entire existence trying to escape, and He rises from the dead.

DEATH IS STILL COMING

Death is still real and painful, but now through faith in Jesus, death is no longer final. This doesn’t mean followers of Jesus can stop caring about their health. It doesn’t mean we don’t grieve at funerals. But followers of Jesus can walk into those moments with a different kind of hope.

Our hope isn’t: “I’m sure the doctor will give me good news.” Our hope is: “Whatever the doctor tells me, I’m with Jesus.” We can pray boldly for healing in scary moments because we believe God is powerful enough to heal, but we can also wait confidently in those moments when He doesn’t heal.

Christian hope isn’t confidence that everything will work out the way we want. It’s confidence that Jesus has already determined how the story ultimately ends. That’s why a follower of Jesus can grieve deeply and still have hope. We aren’t pretending death doesn’t hurt. We’re declaring that death doesn’t win.

Everything We Really Want is Also Really Hard

Most people want meaningful relationships, but relationships take work. Many of us want children, but parenting can bring some of the deepest joy and deepest pain of our lives. We want meaningful work, but work can exhaust us. We want community, but then we discover community involves people…and people are messy! Why is that?

Genesis 3 Gives Us the Answer

In Genesis 1–2, God creates the world and calls it good. Adam and Eve are created in His image, brought together as husband and wife, and given meaningful work. Everything is as it should be.

Then sin enters the story. By Genesis 3:16, God tells the woman: “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Suddenly the very things God created as good become difficult.

Something Isn’t Right

Pain in childbirth isn’t God randomly deciding to make life miserable. It’s His judgment and our sin has consequences. But it isn’t final judgment. Adam and Eve are still alive. God is still speaking to them. Children will still be born. Marriage still exists. God’s purposes for humanity haven’t disappeared. Even in judgment, there is grace.

But, the difficulty in humanity becomes an alarm ringing through creation: Something isn’t right. We weren’t created to live apart from God. That’s one reason the things we love can sometimes become the places of our greatest frustration. We keep discovering that we can’t make life work exactly the way we want it to. And sometimes that difficulty is the very thing God uses to draw us back to Himself.

Even Our Pain Can Point Us Home

One verse earlier, in Genesis 3:15, God had promised that the woman’s offspring would eventually defeat the serpent. Then, thousands of years later, the Apostle Paul writes:

“God sent His Son, born of a woman.” (Galatians 4:4)

Do you see it? The very place where we see the consequences of sin becomes the place through which God brings forth the One who becomes the answer to our sin. His name is Jesus!

Why We Keep Finding a Better Way to Follow Jesus

In a previous blog we discussed different types of spiritual formation to help us sharpen our faith as followers of Jesus. You can find that entry HERE and HERE.

I’ve noticed an interesting pattern among followers of Jesus regarding these areas of spiritual formation. We discover an approach to a spiritual formation that seems to provide something we’ve been missing. In the beginning, we’re excited about this new discovery. We experience some vitality in our spiritual life. We discover some areas of our spiritual life that were neglected. It’s great!

But, then eventually we discover its weaknesses. Soon we become disappointed. And sometimes we begin looking down on the very thing that once helped us. But, then we discover something new and the process starts all over again. It can be exhausting!

“This Is What I’ve Been Missing”

John Mark Comer is an author who has recently become popular. Most of his writings are around monastic parts of our faith, so Comer is tapping into the part of the soul that feels hurried, exhausted, stressed, and anxious. Enter Comer!

There’s nothing inherently wrong about creating some structures to our life where we practice spiritual discipline of solitude, fasting and hearing from the Lord. It’s a consistent part of our faith throughout Scripture.

But give it a few years. Eventually those practices will start to feel like a normal part of our faith. Sometimes we mistake the energy of discovery for the power of the practice. And, it’s possible those practices could lose some of their vitality, so that over time we can get stuck in this cycle of jumping from one spiritual formation to the next and not actually growing in our faith.

Discovery Isn’t the Problem

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with discovering another Christian tradition. In fact, it can be incredibly healthy. Sometimes another part of the church has been preserving something our tradition neglected.

A doctrinal Christian might genuinely need to rediscover prayer. A revival Christian might genuinely need to rediscover ordinary faithfulness. A contemplative Christian might need to rediscover mission. A justice-oriented Christian might need deeper theological foundations. A relational Christian might need solitude. We should be able to learn from each other.

The problem isn’t discovering something new. The problem is the story we sometimes tell ourselves afterward. “I used to believe that because I was immature. Now I understand what Christianity is really supposed to be.” That’s where spiritual growth can quietly become spiritual pride. 

We Rewrite Our Own Spiritual History 

Instead of saying: “My doctrinal background gave me a deep love for Scripture, but I needed to grow in prayer and dependence upon the Spirit.” We say: “I grew up in dead evangelicalism or my revival background focused too much on experience and emotion.”

Instead of receiving something new as an addition, we use it as an indictment of what came before. Then something interesting happens. We compare the best version of our new discovery with the worst version of our previous tradition. Of course, the new thing wins. Until we stay around long enough to discover its problems too. Then the cycle begins again. 

Spiritual Formation Can Become Something We Consume

I wonder if there’s something deeper happening. We can end up becoming consumers of spiritual formation itself. We’re constantly searching for the teacher, church, book, practice, experience, theology, podcast, or system that will finally produce the Christian life we’ve been looking for. And every new discovery gives us something…NEW!

New ways of understanding problems we’ve felt but couldn’t explain. For a while, it’s energizing. Then the novelty wears off. And eventually we’re left with the same basic problem: ourselves.

No approach to spiritual formation eliminates sin, suffering, unanswered prayers, disappointment and unanswered prayers. And none eliminates the painfully slow process of becoming more like Jesus. Eventually every system leaves us standing in front of the same invitation Jesus gave to His disciples, “Follow Me.”

Maybe This Is Part of Maturity

Maybe spiritual maturity includes reaching the point where I don’t have to destroy what came before in order to appreciate what I’m discovering now. I can say: “That formed something good in me. This is showing me something I was missing. And neither one is Jesus.” That’s a very different posture.

It allows us to receive something from Christians who emphasize things differently than we do without constantly reconstructing our entire faith around our latest discovery. Maybe spiritual maturity isn’t finally discovering the right spiritual formation system? Maybe it’s becoming mature enough to receive what different parts of the church have to teach us without believing each new discovery has finally solved Christianity?

Because eventually the novelty will wear off. The system will disappoint me. The people will disappoint me. The leaders will disappoint me.  But, Jesus invitation will be the same, “Come to Me, follow Me.”

Every Approach to Spiritual Formation Has a Shadow Side

In a previous blog we discussed different types of spiritual formation to help us sharpen our faith as followers of Jesus. You can find that entry HERE.  

But each spiritual formation also has something about it that can become unattractive.

  • The monastic approach offers something many of us desperately need: peace, depth, and intentionality. But taken too far, spiritual formation can begin to sound like lifestyle management. 
  • Revival Christianity offers an emotional connection with God. God isn’t merely someone we study. He’s alive and actively moving in our life through answered prayers. That’s awesome! But taken too far, spiritual formation can be built around emotion and dramatic encounters with God.  
  • Compassion and justice-centered Christianity reminds us that following Jesus should actually make a difference in how we treat suffering people. That’s desperately needed. But it can also turn spiritual formation into activism and political commitments.
  • Then there’s the doctrinal approach. This is probably the world I know best. Experience and action are important but we need truth, Scripture, and biblical thinking to guide our decisions. But there’s an obvious danger here too. We can become incredibly skilled at evaluating Christianity without becoming particularly skilled at living it.
  • Obedience to God’s Word is important, but it can also become mechanical. Sometimes we can even feel like we are just making a list of rules of what to do and not do, so that we forget the emotional / relational connection to Jesus.
  • Lastly, relational spiritual formation is probably the one that shapes our values the most at North Village Church. We love the idea of people getting to know one another, but it can be overwhelming to open up your life to someone at a deep level.  

Every Path Eventually Costs Something

Maybe that’s what all these approaches ultimately have in common. At first, each offers something attractive.

  • The monastic tradition says, “Wouldn’t you like peace?”
  • Revival says, “Wouldn’t you like to experience God?”
  • Compassion and justice say, “Wouldn’t you like your life to matter?”
  • Doctrine says, “Wouldn’t you like to understand what’s true?”
  • Obedience says, “Wouldn’t you like to develop new habits?”
  • Relational says, “Wouldn’t you like to be genuinely known?”

But keep walking down any of those roads and eventually something changes. Eventually every serious approach to spiritual formation interferes with the life we would naturally choose for ourselves.

The problem isn’t ultimately finding the perfect spiritual formation system. The question is much simpler. Am I actually getting to know Jesus? And, am I helping someone else follow Jesus?

Am I actually getting to know Jesus?

And, am I helping someone else follow Jesus?

Because Jesus didn’t simply invite us to know more, experience more, serve more, or develop better spiritual habits. He said: “Follow me.” And I’m increasingly convinced that one of the best ways to do that is remarkably ordinary: Follow Jesus with other people. Then help someone else do the same.

Conclusion

Maybe the uncomfortable part isn’t always a sign that something has gone wrong? Maybe sometimes it’s the very place where spiritual formation is beginning to do its work.

Silence sounds great until I have to sit with what’s going on inside me. Experiencing God sounds great until I have to trust Him when I don’t feel anything. Compassion sounds great until loving someone costs me something. Knowing truth sounds great until Scripture confronts something I don’t want to change. Obedience sounds great until Jesus asks me to deny myself. Community sounds great until someone knows enough about me to ask a question I would rather avoid.

That’s when we’re tempted to look for something else. But maybe the goal isn’t to keep finding a form of Christianity that feels better. Maybe part of following Jesus is staying long enough for the uncomfortable parts to actually form us.

That doesn’t mean every approach is healthy or that we should never change. It simply means disappointment isn’t always evidence that we chose the wrong path. Sometimes it means we’ve finally reached the part where following Jesus costs us something.

Why Sunday Morning Worship Doesn’t Feel Like A Comedy Show

If you haven’t heard, I dabble in stand-up comedy in Austin, TX as a pastor. It’s been fairly common when other comics see me do well in a comedy set and win over a room they naturally assume I would bring that same style into Sunday morning. In fact, many of them have said, “If you did that on Sunday morning you would see a lot more people attending your church.” Maybe?

But my goal as a pastor isn’t trying to get a lot of people to attend on Sunday morning. My goal as a pastor is to invite people to be known relationally, so that together we can grow closer to Jesus and eventually help someone else do the same.  

Types of Spiritual Formation

Different Christians are drawn to different ways of following Jesus. 

Spiritual FormationInvitationPractical
Monastic Less hurried / stressReordering life around Jesus
RevivalExperienceEncountering power around Jesus
Justice ActionExtending care toward others
DoctrinalKnowing TruthArticulating a worldview
ObedienceSelf-DenialDying to self, living to Jesus
RelationalCommunityBeing known, helping others do the same

Some Christians are drawn toward one approach more than others. It isn’t that one approach is wrong, and another is right. In fairness, most probably involve a little bit of all of them, but it was helpful to me to see them distinguished from one another. 

The Cost of Being Known

There are strengths and weaknesses to all of these spiritual formations, but there is something unique to what we are trying to build at North Village Church. You can practice solitude anonymously, you can attend an incredible worship service anonymously, you can protest injustice anonymously, you can read theology anonymously, and you can deny yourself anonymously.  

But it’s much harder to follow Jesus with someone who actually knows you. Because eventually they ask a question. And then they remember your answer. And then you are left in a space of, “What happens next?”

When that happens, our faith in Jesus starts to intersect with actual life on life and that is both incredibly attractive and incredibly uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable for the person being asked and it is uncomfortable for the person asking the questions because in my experience our lives don’t dramatically change overnight. 

Instead we are all entering into a season of long-suffering with one another as we take multiple “one step forward, two steps back” throughout the life of these relationships. It involves multiple layers of confession, multiple prayers, and sometimes seasons of waiting when we don’t really understand what the Lord is doing in our lives.

The Cost of Knowing Someone Else

And Then It Gets Worse, because eventually spiritual formation at North Village Church isn’t only about people getting involved in our life. North Village Church is wanting to build up a church family that is interested in all of us helping someone else.

This is where our faith in Jesus isn’t only something we consume from others, but we start asking ourselves, “How can I pray, encourage, teach, support, and care for someone?” Someone walked beside me during a painful season, which is great! But also asking, “How can I do that for someone else?”

That’s where a relational approach to spiritual formation becomes “Jesus is doing something in me, and Jesus wants to do something through me.” We need both. Without the first, our faith in Jesus becomes an activity of; schedules, serving, and experiencing without necessarily becoming more like Jesus.

Conclusion

In the end, maybe my comedian friends are right? Maybe I could use some of what I’ve learned in comedy to create more energy on Sunday morning? There’s nothing wrong with that. But winning over a room and forming a people aren’t the same thing. One can happen in ten minutes. The other takes years.

Finding Community in a City Full of People

If you live around The Domain, you probably don’t have to go very far to be around people. You can walk through The Domain on a Saturday night and pass hundreds of people between restaurants, apartments, coffee shops, stores, and sidewalks. 

You can live in an apartment building with people above you, below you, and across the hall, and still not know their names, so that Austin is full of people. But being around people isn’t the same thing as being known by people.

The Local Church

The same thing can happen at a local church. You can show up on Sunday, worship, listen to a message, grab some coffee, and head home without ever really finding your place. That’s one of the reasons serving on a Sunday morning can be so important.

It might look like you’re giving up precious hours that can be used for other areas of your life that need attention, but something else happens when you start showing up for other people: you start becoming part of a community.

Sometimes taking steps to grow spiritually starts with saying yes to a serving opportunity. It is taking a step of ownership in your faith that says, “This isn’t an observational experience. This is a personal investment in an area of my life that is important.”

Most people don’t start serving because they feel passionate about a specific area. In fact, one volunteer described being intimidated when she first started working with children because she was afraid she might say the wrong thing. But then she discovered something freeing: it’s okay not to know everything. She didn’t have to be an expert. She simply needed to be willing to show up, learn, and care about the kids in front of her.

Over time, something started to change. The children began recognizing her with smiles in the hallways. Parents began to engage her more naturally. She shared common experiences with other volunteers. Faces she might have passed with a polite “Good morning” on Sunday mornings became people she knew.

Serving once a month in a particular area didn’t just give her something to do. It gave her people to know, so that there is a difference between attending a worship service on a Sunday morning and being known.

That’s especially meaningful in a city like Austin. People move here for work. Young adults relocate for jobs with companies around The Domain and North Austin. Families arrive without extended family nearby, so that it’s easy for people to build a life here surprisingly quickly while taking much longer to build meaningful relationships.

Church can accidentally become another place we consume as another task to accomplish throughout the week. We find a service we like. We sit in a familiar section. We listen to a message we enjoy. And, we leave, only to get discouraged over time because we don’t feel like we are growing. But the church was never intended to simply be a crowd of people attending the same location at the same time. The local church at her heart is a family. And families know one another.

One technical volunteer described how serving changed his experience of worship: it wasn’t just about what he got out of Sunday morning but what he was able to offer on Sunday morning.

Counting the Cost

Of course, serving costs something. There will be Sundays when you’d rather sleep longer. Sundays when brunch sounds better. Sundays when you arrive at church and think, I really don’t want to do this today. That’s natural!

But serving others doesn’t something to our soul. It reminds us, even briefly, about the needs of others. In that moment, we stop thinking only about what we need and start noticing the people God has placed around us.

And in a city that constantly invites us to ask, “What do I want to do today?”, following Jesus invites us to ask a different question: “Who can I serve today?”  We don’t have to serve the whole city. We don’t have to know everyone at church. We don’t even have to feel particularly gifted. Maybe we just start with one yes? Maybe it starts with learning someone’s name? Maybe it starts with sharing a little of your story? And somewhere along the way, you may discover that you didn’t just find a place to serve. You found a place to belong.

3 Things I Learned Competing in Austin’s Funniest Comics 2026

A few months ago, I signed up for a comedy competition with 250 comedians in Austin at Capital City Comedy Club in the Domain. That means 250 people were trying to accomplish the exact same thing I was, make people laugh.

Stand-up comedy has a funny way of exposing you. It’s just you and a mic on a stage. The lights are bright. You can’t really see the audience. People are seated at your feet. And, everyone is there with an attitude like, “Make me laugh!”

When you do stand-up comedy there’s nowhere to hide. Every word, every breath, every pause, and every facial expression counts. There’s no PowerPoint to blame on technical difficulties. It’s just a room full of strangers deciding in real time whether you’ve earned another minute of their attention. As I walked away from my set, I realized I had learned lessons that have very little to do with comedy and almost everything to do with life.

1. You Don’t Have to Beat Everyone

You just have to do your job: When I first heard there were 250 comedians competing, it felt overwhelming. How do you compete with that many people? Then I remembered something important. I wasn’t performing against 250 comedians that night. I was performing in front of one audience. My job wasn’t to be better than everyone else. My job was to deliver the best 4 minutes I was capable of delivering. That’s true in almost every area of life. We spend so much energy looking sideways as we comparing careers, churches, businesses, social media, and accomplishments, that we forget our actual assignment. Comparison creates anxiety because it asks us to control outcomes we never could. But, preparation creates confidence because it focuses on what we actually can control.

    Whether you’re leading a company, raising kids, preaching a sermon, or stepping on stage, your responsibility is the same: Prepare. I can’t control how audiences are going to respond. But I can work out those 4-minutes! I can run through those 4-minutes. I can imagine how the audience is going to respond. I can watch the audience as they prepare for the show. I can imagine how they might respond. I can prepare!

    Failures Compound Faster Than Big Breakthroughs

    The majority of laughs I got that night were from moments where jokes didn’t work, audiences didn’t respond, and timing was off. Each of those failures is an opportunity to improve. Do words need to change? I can swap the order. Where can I cut?

    In sermons and comedy, most people just assume I am quick on my feet talking about topics off the top of my head. Not even close. The four minutes last night have been delivered 50 times over the last two-years and every miss was an opportunity to make it better. 

    Confidence Comes From Evidence, Not Optimism

    Some comedians seem to not care if an audience laughs. I need the audience to laugh. It isn’t because I need them to like me. I want to get on the same page with the audience and if they are laughing at what I think is funny it tells me, “We’re all hearing the same thing.” 

    Before I get called up to a stage I can feel my heart beating in my chest. I am flooded with these thoughts like, “Why am I doing this to myself?” The only thing that quiets that voice is my faith in Jesus that give me the courage to pursue this area of my life and evidence that people have found these bits funny. 

    Real confidence isn’t pretending you’re not nervous. It’s remembering you’ve done difficult things before. I’ve found that to be true in comedy, leadership, and faith.  Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s trusting what you’ve already learned enough to take the next step anyway.

    One Final Thought

    Competitions have winners and losers. But life isn’t a competition. Sometimes in life there are going to be moments where we advance and there are going to be moments when the fruit of the hard work doesn’t materialize. 

    Success in life isn’t about advancing. Success in life is about learning and discovering that you’re far more capable than you thought you were six months ago. For me, I’m grateful I advanced to the next round, but I’m even more grateful for what the process taught me. Because long after this competition is over, those lessons will still be shaping the way I live, lead, and step onto the next stage.

    The Danger of Uncertainty

    If you’ve ever driven around the Domain in Austin, you know how quickly things can change. One week there’s a new apartment complex going up. The next week another restaurant closes. Tech companies are hiring, then laying off. Traffic patterns change, so that sometimes morning traffic is at 7:30am and sometimes 9:30am.  What?

    Last Sunday, I stood in front of our church family, a church by the Domain in Austin, and realized we were living through one of those seasons.  We are in the midst of a ton of questions. Where are we going to meet? How is this all going to work financially? New positions on staff are need and just like in any church, we need men and women who are taking ownership beyond attending on Sunday morning.

    In addition, how do we stay focused on our vision as a church family in the midst of uncertainty. The temptation to give into apathy and indifference is off the charts. After all, what does it matter? This is the voice that echoes through our church family right now. You can feel it on a Sunday morning. It’s palpable! As the elders of our church family, we know we don’t have all the answers. The people in our church family know we don’t have all the answers. And, like most people, our first instinct in the midst of uncertainty is to find certainty!

    • “If I just knew what was going to happen…”
    • “If I could just get an answer…”
    • “If I knew how this relationship would turn out…”
    • “If I knew whether this job was going to work…”

    Then I’d finally have peace, confidence, clarity and everything would be great! But that’s not what Scripture teaches. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve didn’t lack information. They had everything they needed. They knew God. They walked with Him in the cool of the garden as friends. Can you imagine?

    But something changed in their story. It wasn’t the information they possessed about God and one another. It was the uncertainty that entered the conversation when the serpent asked one simple question: “Has God really said…?” That question wasn’t about gathering information. It’s not like the serpent was genuinely wondering, “What has God said?” He knows! Instead the serpent was introducing uncertainty into the conversation.

    Uncertainty Shapes Us

    Here’s what struck me while studying Genesis 3. The greatest danger wasn’t that Adam and Eve had unanswered questions. The greatest danger was that uncertainty began shaping their relationship with God. That’s still true today. When uncertainty goes unchecked, we begin asking different questions.

    • “Can I really trust God?”
    • “Is He holding out on me?”
    • “Does He actually know what’s best?”
    • “Is He paying attention?”

    The circumstances haven’t changed yet, but our hearts have started to look for something else in life to find stability. This is where the spiritual fight for our faith in Jesus goes live! The serpent never showed up with overwhelming power. He showed up with words and suggestions about truth.

    He didn’t immediately tell Eve to rebel against God. Instead, he simply nudged her toward uncertainty. That’s how deception usually works. Rarely does it ask us to abandon everything overnight. Instead, it slowly erodes trust.

    • One conversation.
    • One thought.
    • One assumption.
    • One compromise at a time.

    Responding to Uncertainty

    One of the fascinating details in Genesis 3 is that Eve begins subtly changing what God actually said. God began with generosity in Genesis 2, “You may freely eat from every tree…” By the time Eve repeats God’s command, the emphasis on God’s generosity has disappeared. She even adds restrictions God never gave. That’s what uncertainty often does. It magnifies what we’ve lost while minimizing what we’ve been given. Uncertainty creates fear that becomes louder than gratitude.

    In a city like Austin, it can give us this illusion of certainty. Tech companies keep moving into the city. Exotic cars keep appearing. We are surrounded by wealth and education in the capitol of Texas! It feels pretty certain! But it just takes a moment and any of those “certain” areas of life can change in a second. And, deep down, we know those areas of life are unstable and unreliable. Therefore, the goal isn’t to eliminate uncertainty in life. That’s impossible! The better question is, “Who am I becoming while I walk through uncertainty?”

    This is critical because fear produces one kind of person. It’s the kind of person that gets wrapped up with insecurity. Fear stirs up passivity. Fear causes us to spend energy on something that might never happen. But, when we are in a place of trust it produces a different kind of a person. When we are layered in trust we will move toward people. We are clear in our thinking. One is controlled by outcomes, the other has a foundation.

    The Gospel Speaks Into Our Uncertainty

    Genesis 3 doesn’t end with Adam and Eve hiding forever. God comes looking for them. Read that last sentence again, “God comes looking for them.” That’s the gospel! Long before Adam and Eve searched for Him, He searched for them. Read the chapter for yourself and see. It’s amazing!

    That story ultimately points to Jesus. Where Adam and Eve hid, Jesus stepped forward. Where they tried to cover their own shame, Jesus covered ours through His death and resurrection. The gospel isn’t simply that God gives us answers. The gospel is that God gives us Himself. That changes everything. Because certainty has never been found in perfect circumstances. It’s found in the unchanging character of God.

    The future will still be unclear. Our economy will still fluctuate. Relationships will disappoint if we give them enough time. But the invitation of Jesus remains the same as He calls us to know Him, trust Him, follow Him, and invite others to do the same. Because, sometimes faith isn’t knowing exactly where you’re going, sometimes faith is knowing Who you’re walking with on the journey.

    First Church Experience?

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    Do you remember your first memories of church? Maybe it was when you were a child and you remember your parents getting you up early on Sunday for church. Quickly your parents would pull you out of bed, get you dressed, and hand you a pop-tart as you unfortunately walked past the television and morning cartoons to get in the car to go to church. Why were they in such a hurry?

    Maybe it was when you were a little older. Maybe elementary age? Church was different. People you didn’t know started asking you really personal questions. You remember waking up every Sunday with this knot in your stomach because people might find out all the bad things you had done that week and they might tell God! It was if they had some hidden spiritual x-ray machine that could read your mind. Why did your parents start going to church? Where did this come from? Had things been so bad that your parents were actually turning to God for help. This can’t be good.

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