Wear Your Reminder

I woke up this morning, got ready for work, shuttled my little boys to preschool and headed for my office. Just as I was getting into my car I noticed this:

One of my kids had decided to brand me this morning before I woke up. The sneaky little dude.

Old Nathan would have washed it off so I could look professional. After all, I am supposed to teach college students how to speak in a professional environment. This Nathan, the one I am today is leaving it there all day.

I’m not a tattoo guy and I never will be. I have some friends who are tattoo people. They have stories for all of their ink. I have a story for my ink too. The story of my ink is love.

My son loves me. Heck, maybe Jamie did it—but I know she loves me. How do you think we had so many kids?

My son loves daddy and he left me a reminder on my arm that will be there all day long. I might leave it all week. Because love marks us.

When we have been touched by love. By real love. It changes something about us.

Those of us who follow Jesus get really enthusiastic about it sometimes. I think that is fantastic. We should be excited about such big love at work in our lives. We should relish in the way it marks our life. We should never been ashamed, embarrassed, or afraid to show off the artistic beauty of grace to those we find in close proximity.

When I was in high school we all wore these bracelets all the time that said, "WWJD". It was an acronym for a great question: What Would Jesus Do? I think when it started it was meant to remind us to think through our decisions—but, at least for many of the people I knew who wore them, it became more a fashion piece than a guiding principle.

I don't want the mark love leaves on me to be fashionable. I'm not trying to show it off like a shiny new toy. I just want to revel in the truth that love is changing, challenging, and growing me. I think when we're at our best in the love of Christ we don't have to make a huge deal about it because the way we love everyone else in turn makes a huger deal about it. God's love at work in you, and the impact you make in the lives of those you come into daily contact with, is a bigger statement than most of our statements. We don't have to always say it or show it. We can just do it. We can live it.

The breath in our lungs is a reminder of God's grace on us. The gravity that glues us to the ground is like a divine embrace. The hope we can know and feel and live shines on us as sure as a sunrise. Let love be your reminder. Wear that. Share it everywhere you can.

Walking the Line

My wonderful grandpa's birthday is today. Much of my stubbornness and compassion came from him. I talked to him on the phone earlier and shared with him the name we have chosen for our second son, Jonathan Eli. At Thanksgiving he had announced to the family, pretty much out of the blue, that he had been thinking of that name. Today when I told him that we had in fact chosen that name for our son he said, "I know. I just told my sister Ruby on the phone." He was touched but not surprised.

Apparently he really did know. It was one of those inexplicable knowing by faith kinds of things. A measure of the movement closer to God I have seen in my grandpa's life in very recent years. The power of God's love has been hard at work in the lives of my mom's family. Prayers that were prayed for decades have been coming to pass in the wonderful work of God's mercy and grace. The culmination of a passage from the Psalms that has been really moving to me lately...

I'm finding my way down the road of right living, but how long before you show up? I'm doing the very best I can, and I'm doing it at home, where it counts. Psalm 101:2-3 MSG

My Papa has been an incredible example to me in my life. Not because of his perfection, because I have never been under such a false assumption where he was concerned. In fact, I have long since felt that his many flaws were so well known as I grew up that they always pushed me in an authentic direction. I struggled to actually be authentic much of the time, but the example was there. I never felt that he tried to be someone he wasn't. I never felt that he pretended. He was never fake. He was always himself. And he never apologized for it, perhaps another series of traits I inherited.

Like the classic country ballad his nephew Bob helped to make famous my Papa Wootton has always Walked the Line. Not perfect, but dedicated. Dedicated to his family. Dedicated to the things that matter. When I grow up I hope I can be just like him.

Happy Birthday Papa & Happy Valentine's Day to the rest of you.

Thanks for reading, Nate

April 29 - Fruit Trees

Read: Matthew 7:15-20

Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:20 ESV)

All of my favorite fruits are quite frankly very easy to recognize. Strawberries are small, a deep shade of red, and distinctly shaped. Pineapples are characterized by their outer husk and pointy greenery. Watermelons are quickly noted for their green and often striped rind and round oblong shape. But the kind of vegetation a fruit comes from is not always so easy to identify unless you're an expert. The fruit itself is the key component.

The people who follow Jesus should be easily recognizable. We should readily, easily, and naturally demonstrate the kind of fruit that makes this a reality. Jesus said it himself. People are recognized for who they truly are by the kind of fruit their lives produce.

What kind of fruit are you demonstrating to an onlooking world? It's an important question. For way too long the American Christian community has been far too content simply answering the questions of life with grande theological responses. We spend too much time in our heads, or none at all. What our unchurched friends, family, and neighbors truly need to see is the evidence of Christian fruit.

March 29 - Fakers

Read: Matthew 11:7-19

But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn." (Matthew 11:16, 17 ESV)

The Pharisees were major critics of John and Jesus, neither of whom avoided offending their ridiculous religious pride on a regular basis. Jesus compared to them to children playing wedding and funeral games. They were fake and phony. Less than the real thing, poor replacements. The Pharisees fell short of what God had called them to in a lot of ways. They had traded authentic communion with God for shallow and ridiculous purity rituals.

It would be kind of like if you were supposed to have dinner with your family or close friends, but all you did was stay in the bathroom and wash your hands all night instead of ever taking your place at the table. What's worse is that they kept calling everyone else into the bathroom too. Their message to everyone was something like, "the only way to really worship God is if you stay here and wash your hands."

They were fake. It was tragically sad because I'm sure there were many among their number who legitamately believed they were doing the right things. It kind of makes you want to step back and examine your own life when you think about it like that. Is there any area in my life where I am accepting less than the real thing? Am I trading authenticity and communion for shallow ritual or stubborn tradition? God helps us to find these areas of our loves that we might be blind to if we're serious about coming to terms with them.

March 13 - Receivers

Read: Matthew 10: 40-42

Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. (Matthew 10:40 ESV)

Cell phone reception can get pretty spotty in the rural mountains I frequent. It has made for a few interesting stories over the years. Missed or mistaken words have created some interesting problems because reception, either actual or perceived, is a crucial element of conversation.

Christians are called that because they are "Christ-like" or at least they are supposed to be. People who bear the title are supposed to also bear the weight and responsibility of actually being authentic representatives of Christ to a world in desperate need of him.

So how are we representing? How are people receiving us?

I find it interesting that the bible paints an incredibly clear picture of Jesus being this guy who was really well received. I know I can't really compare on the reception scale. Why? What are we doing as his representatives to this world that is so completely off-putting to people? Is it pride? Arrogance?

Sure, some people completely confuse the issue. They are missing key parts of what is being said or shown. It is because they are not properly receiving. Their reception is bad. But sometimes those of us who should understand Jesus the best, do the poorest job of demonstrating him to those in our path. My prayer for you and I today is that what we say and do would be received as evidence for the authentic awesomeness of Christ.