In his song, “Face the Promise,” Bob Seger sings about a guy who crosses a line deep inside his spirit, a line that needed to be crossed. After crossing that line, he cries, “Watch out, I’m gonna be my own boss.”
There’s something to be said for crossing that line inside, and as for the idea of being one’s own boss, that’s just another way of saying, “I want to be free to live my own life.”
“Face the Promise” is a song that reminds me of Emerson’s well-known quote that most people live “lives of quiet desperation.” It’s about a guy who can’t find anything but crummy jobs. He’s traveling the country, moving from place to place, but everywhere he goes, it’s the same old, same old. He’s dying inside. He’s desperate for change. He needs a new space, an Eldorado out there someplace.
Tell me you’ve never felt like that! We all have. Trapped. Caught up in the rat race and knowing the rats are winning.
I’ve been there, and several years ago, I made the decision to cross that line. In fact, Church on the Edge is the result of that decision. One day, I’ll share my story in full. For now, let me simply say that I came to the place where I felt trapped, unable to do the things God was calling me to do. My ministry seemed to depend more on allegiance to the denomination and institution of the church than to God.
Institutions, by their very nature, are impersonal. They are driven by buildings and budgets, balance sheets, and bylaws. All of these things are, of course, a necessary part of any enterprise, religious or secular. But the problem comes when religious institutions usurp the place of God. I’ve seen this happen. The result was a real crisis of faith in my life. I almost left the ministry.
Thank God for Seoul International Baptist Church. We had all the nuts and bolts of most institutions, but we broke a lot of institutional rules in our ministry. And the result was I served as pastor of a church composed of people from multiple denominations, Christian traditions, and cultures. We were, as I used to say to our people, “bigger than Baptist.” A saying which has cost me greatly, but a ministry philosophy that has set me free.
Church on the Edge is an extension of that ministry. And while I’m a member of an institutional church, I’m no longer shackled by institutional allegiance. In fact, the church I belong to is not Southern Baptist. In joining this church, I didn’t reject my Baptist leanings. I did, however, follow what my wife and I both believe is the leadership of God to a wonderful fellowship of believers.
It feels great to live outside the boundary lines, following God wherever He leads.
That’s my story, in part. But now, let me ask you - what line is God calling you to cross? What’s keeping you from crossing that line? Are you afraid of what you might lose? Afraid of what people may say? Afraid of letting go of the security that living your life of “quiet desperation” brings?
Jesus provides some great counsel when it comes to crossing those lines of life embedded deep in our souls: “Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
What life do you need to lose to find the life God has waiting for you? What is it deep down inside that God is calling you to do, that God is promising to bless you in ways you can’t even imagine? Face the promise of God. Cross that line.
We live by faith and not sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
In Christ,
Dan
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