And all I got was this lousy t-shirt...

Recently read Vince Antonucci's book, I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. I thought now would be a good time to blog about it since I'm going to be seeing Vince next week at the White Board Sessions.

I liked it. I really really liked it.

It was a fast read that left a lasting impression. It made me laugh out loud and made me go hmmm.

Vince asks some very good questions and has a one-of-a-kind way of telling stories in a hilarious and vulnerable way. He's a faithful, life-long learner and I've learned from him.

Some of the things I highlighted:

• When I'm really living it, I love the Christian life. It's helped me to approach my days with a sense of anticipation and it's allowed me to break out of my routines and experience adventure.
• When I read the Bible I notice that Jesus didn't go around asking people to BELIEVE in him. He also didn't ask people to BEHAVE. Instead, he asked people to FOLLOW him. According to Jesus, being a Christian is not so much about believing or behaving correctly as it is about traveling with him. Jesus is going somewhere and he wants me to go with him.
• Where exactly is Jesus going? Where is he inviting me to go? And is it possible that a lot of us are believing and behaving, but we're missing out on what Christianity is really about-which is following Jesus. And maybe that's why we're not fully alive.
• "ABIDE in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it ABIDES in the vine, so neither can you, unless you ABIDE in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who ABIDES in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." To ABIDE means to LIVE WITHIN.
• When I first started following Jesus I really lived life with him. I was abiding in Him. But over time it became just a relationship. There were many other things supporting me, giving me joy and peace and contentment. Take my schedule, for example: going to sleep, getting up, going to work, eating at the same time each day. That gave me a sense of comfort. Another was getting a lot of work done. Checking things off my list made me feel good about myself. Money--having a little extra in savings provided a sense of security. TV--getting to watch my favorite shows supplied my joy. When my wife got sick, all the other things that were supporting me got taken away. My routine was gone. I was no longer getting much work done. The money in the bank was sent to the hospital. I had no time to watch TV. I should have been able to lose all of that and still be fine. But I was NOT fine.
• The problem was this: I wasn't abiding in Jesus. All we had was a relationship. And, as with any relationship, life got in the way. I need to live life with Jesus. I need to abide.
• "Do you know who you are? ...You're the one Jesus loves."
• I knew what it meant to be hungry. Really hungry. Not desperate for food, but desperate for sleep. And, that's the kind of hunger Jesus talks about. Because eating is easy for us, I think we need a different metaphor. And, the one that works for me is sleep.
• If all a Christian has to do is stay on the straight and narrow path of obedience by doing right and not doing wrong, does it really matter if Jesus is out in front or not? In fact, Jesus could faint; I could walk right past him and still feel assured that I'm "following Jesus," because I've stayed on that same straight, moral path. Jesus could then wake up and start walking the same course again, only now he'd be following me! There had to be something wrong with my understanding of following Jesus if it didn't really matter who was following who.
• Being a Christian does involve obeying God over the long haul. And part of following Jesus is doing right and not doing wrong. But there's got to be more to it. It's wacky. People are following Jesus into a storm your momma would have made you come in from. Following Jesus did not lead people in one monotonous direction; it led them in all different directions. Jesus was constantly on the move. I'm no expert at this, but I'm getting better. Because he's invisible and all, I'm often not positive I'm following Jesus, but I've been asking God to help me.
• When I study the life of Jesus, his MO was to go into a town, hover around a little, and then dive into the dark, chaotic, messy places in people's lives and bring light, order and beauty.
• It's impossible to love God in a hurry. I typically view the person in front of me as an obstacle to accomplishing my true mission, but Jesus viewed the person in front of him as his true mission.
• Imagine one night your phone rings, disturbing you from your third straight hour of watching TV. When I devote myself to being a lazy boy in an easy chair I may be comfortable, but I'm also spending my life asleep.
• My life goes up and down like John Travolta's career.
• Hard questions to ask:
  1. If I feel most alive when I'm watching a movie or playing a video game or reading a book or watching sports, if those are consistently the best parts of my day, what does that say about my life? Shouldn't it be more exciting to live my life than to watch someone else live theirs?
  2. In the Bible, Jesus led his followers into dangerous places. Do I often find myself in dangerous places? And, if not, what does that mean?
  3. Despite being completely righteous, Jesus attracted the worst of sinners. Are sinful people drawn to me or are they put off by my so-called righteousness?
  4. When Jesus came into contact with people, their lives were radically transformed. Are people's lives being changed by knowing me?

Comments

[je]

"According to Jesus, being a Christian is not so much about believing or behaving correctly as it is about traveling with him." Well, really it's about our sin and what we deserve for our sin. I don't think Jesus is really traveling anywhere - the Bible says that He is on the throne. I think He is still there.

In order to be a born-again Christian, we must die. That's the road that we must travel. We must recognize that we are sinners - we are naughty by nature. Sin is in our DNA. Yup, the payment for sin is death. But wait, that's the whole reason why Jesus came to earth. Not to make us feel good, rather to know that we are wretched and condemned to, dare I say it - Hell. By his sacrifice we know we can confess, ask for forgiveness, and put our faith in Jesus to justify us.

"Are sinful people drawn to me or are they put off by my so-called righteousness?" Why would people be drawn to you? Are you trying to be the latest fad? BTW - Righteousness is not a bad thing. I haven't had people just come up to me and say 'hey, aren't you a Christian?' - no, rather, I have to go out an seek the lost.

"Are people's lives being changed by knowing me?" to quote the Bible - "May it never be". I can't save people, nor do I want people to think that I can or say something special and warm to give them a false sense of hope. I must decrease so that Jesus may increase. ONLY Jesus can save, only Jesus can make someone righteous. The only thing that we can do is help people understand where they stand with God right now. Hint: they have broken God's law, and THEY can not do anything about it. That is why Jesus came to earth, to be the payment for our sin - then it is a matter of repentance and faith on their part and Jesus' faithfulness to save us.

WATCH OUT - don't let the warm, feel good fuzzies water down the gospel message. Boy, I hope I am not missing something, but it sounds a little squishy for me.

[Terrace Crawford]

Hi Kem -

Love your thoughts here about Vince's book. I too am a big fan of him. He did an incredible job at WiBo. Just thought I'd give ya a quick shoutout. It was super cool meeting you. I was very impressed upon meeting you (after already being fairly impressed by reading your blog and twit msgs). Look forward to connecting with you further...

/TC/