Be “off beat” - Quest 52 - Week 51

Have you ever sat and thought about the life of an apostle of the early Church? This morning I took the time to do so and I really had a great clarifying moment. Nothing went according to plan, but that is exactly what the plan was.

Slowly, heck maybe even quickly, we have been duped into believing that there is a certain rhythm to the ways that things should get done. However, if we were to take the time to recognize the success of that rhythm we would quickly realize that the rhythm that has been played is not one that we want to follow.

Sure the rhythm of success that the world has presented SEEMS successful, but it’s momentary success. What we are chasing after is eternal success and that rhythm SEEMS like it is off. Yet if we pay attention to the notes that are being played, we would quickly realize that even though it seems off, it’s actually dead on beat and more impressive.

I think I can explain this through some music anecdotes.

One of my favorite families I have ever had the pleasure of doing ministry with are the Feldners. Britt, the father, kills it in our kids ministry, Jill, the mother, has one of the kindest hearts you will ever experience, Miles is an absolute STUD of a kid and baseball player while being one of the funniest students I have ever had the pleasure to have in student ministry, and then there is Manning. If you don’t know Manning, you probably have seen him play guitar at one of our campuses. The young adult guy with the blonde locks and killer guitar skills.

Manning had this semi-annoying habit at a church conference where he would offbeat from everyone else. Like a classic student pastor, I would snap him a look, he would grin, then he would stop.

Then one day I realized that he was actually staying on beat and creating more fun music.

It would look something like this:

Everybody:

Clap-Pause-Clap-Pause-Clap

Manning:

Pause - ClapClap - Pause - ClapClap- Pause - Clapclap

What he was doing LOOKED like it was off rhythm, was actually on rhythm and more successful than everyone else’s own beat. It was so impressive that I actually just let him do it at will.

I believe that is how Jesus works as well.

Look at it this way:

Acts 1:6-7, “6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?
7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.”

After all of this time - the apostles still didn’t understand what the reign of Jesus was supposed to look like. They expected this war, this hostile take-over, this fight to the end. Who can blame them? Jesus had just defeated death and rose from the grave! They were ready to go to BATTLE. Play time was done. They were ready to lead and run the show.

That’s not how Jesus works though. Sure that was the rhythm of success for others... but that only would lead to momentary success. There was still a lot of eternal success to be had. There were people that needed to be reached for the Gospel, there were people who needed to find what matters, there were people who needed to know they matter to Jesus. So Jesus said - Hold up, wait a minute.Our job is not finished. We still have work to do.

That same calling is extended to all of us today.
There are still people who need to hear the gospel.
There are still people who need to find what matters.
There are still people who need to know they matter to Jesus.
We are a part of that story. We have work to do. But we can’t chase after the world's

view of success, we have to follow the example of Jesus.
This week of Christmas is the perfect time to recognize how Jesus chose to be “offbeat”

Luke 2:6-7, “6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”

He humbled himself, chose to spend time on Earth, served, and loved. We have the same opportunity.

If we want to be successful, if we want to make Jesus famous, if we want to help others find what matters, then we have to choose to go to the “offbeat” rhythm.

It’s not what people expect or are used to hearing, but it’s exactly what they need. Jesus did that for us, let’s follow his example.