what did i just say?

So I heard this joke once, I think it was from Derek Broyles, it goes like this… “How did the one legged chicken cross the road?”… You give the person a few seconds, they throw out a few answers, but none of them are right, so you offer them a clue. The clue is “take the ‘f’ out of free, and the ‘f’ out of way.” The joke is really in the clue, and it usually takes the person a few moments to realize that the word way doesn’t contain the letter ‘f’. To which they typically respond, “There’s no ‘F’ in way.” And there’s the punch line... they usually don't realize what they're saying until after they said it. I tell that joke because I couldn’t think of any other way to explain those times when you make a statement, but don’t really realize what you’re saying. Maybe like a time when you make a completely innocent statement, and meant nothing by it, but then you realize the context in which it was said and realize, “Oh gosh, what have I said?” I had a moment like that today, but instead of realizing that I said something ‘inappropriate’, I realized the beauty of the words that were coming from my mouth.

For new staff training one of our assignments was to memorize John 1:1-18. Being the little procrastinator that I am, I waited until an hour before I had to leave for new staff training to do it. So I’m trying to bust out 18 verses of memorization, just flying through it, memorizing words but not really taking anything in. I get to verse 14, “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”, and I repeat it again, “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” and again, “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” And then, as if it was the first time I had ever heard this outrageous claim, “THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND MADE HIS DWELLING AMONG US!!!!!” It was like a slap in the face. God, the guy in heaven, the dude who created everything, forfeited his rights, put on some flesh, and moved into the neighborhood (KW). Now that’s just crazy. I don’t really care to expound on that, it just really hit me that I had been looking at that statement, saying it out loud, and had no realization of what I was saying. I didn’t really think much more about it until later on tonight. I’m at Windy Gap for a staff conference for a few days, and spent the afternoon/night with all the new staff folks. I just really love Young Life a lot, and was sitting around soaking up the beauty of Windy Gap, the fellowship of friends, just thinking about life a little bit and considering how God wants us to live it out. And I think that the mission of YL and all the YL folks really get life… they really know how to live. I’ve yet to find, as a whole, a more attractive group of folks who are just excited about life. Jesus Christ is the most attractive person to ever “make his dwelling among us”. He still dwells among us today, and our lives should be a reflection of that. We were “made to live with eyes wide-open”. To observe, consume, and enjoy the beauty and adventure of life. I got a sick feeling in my stomach when I remembered the memorization moment from the morning, and just wanted to repent of opening my bible and failing to enjoy the fullness and richness of the life that it gives, of my failure and lack of awe of God and the truths of His word, and for looking it right in the eye and just making an assignment of it. Life is more than a list of things to do, more than a series of assignments, and the moment you make it about anything less than Jesus Christ is the moment you lose it. I’ve always loved this quote...

Wouldn’t that just be the worst thing you could ever discover at the end of your life? Yet that’s the final, dark page of the lives of most people. As for me, I want to live my life deliberately for the cause of Jesus Christ, to front him as the only essential thing, so that, in the end, I can discover that I had lived life, and lived it to the full.

Jim Rayburn's last address to the YL staff was this: "Young Life is Jesus Christ, and don't you ever forget it." I hope I never do...