I love the PC and Mac commercials.  The guy who plays PC is such a dork who doesn’t want to talk about his weakness.  Almost always, PC guy would rather change the subject, distract from the issue or shut down the conversation.  PC guy looks worried, confused and foolish.  The Mac guy is young, cool and relaxed, no worries. 

Wow, all that in a computer commercial.  I wonder if we as followers of Christ are seen more as PCs or Mac’s.  Mac are presented as cool, relaxed, cheerful, having less problems, in touch and appealing.

PCs are presented as complicated, in denial, angry, defensive, greasy and dorky.

I wish followers of Jesus looked more like Mac.  All systems have issues, but as followers of Jesus, we should be calm, cheerful, easy to work with, in touch and appealing as we should have great joy.

The problem we do face is that there are two kinds of viruses in this life. The first is the virus of sin, which wears out all of our hardware and mix up all our software if it is not managed, no matter who we are. The second type of virus is the viruses found are created to disrupt. 

Our reality is that we must decide which virus set we want to work with.  The first will destroy your system as it ages and becomes obsolete.  The second will call for constant trouble-shooting in this life as people might not like you as a follower of Jesus, just like they didn’t like Jesus.  Yet this is the difference: as a follower of Jesus, you are constantly receiving upgrades in your software (thinking, feelings understanding), constantly receiving complete assessments from the creator of your system who is on call 24/7/365 (prayer, scripture, community of believer and Holy Spirit), and you receive a system whose processor is never obsolete but is constantly being transformed to deal with the times.

Pick your system.  The system of this world looks good but is in constant change; it takes a personal toll and requires costly upgrades that never quite work right.  Or there is the system of God found in Jesus that is accessible, upgraded constantly, and available for only a one time purchase price which is accepting the work of the creator on your behalf through the work and teachings of Jesus.  What system will you choose?

Neither PC or Mac will live forever only systems who’s service is guaranteed in the Lord Jesus.

      I get great thoughts (well okay, great-for-me kind of thoughts) in two places: the bathroom and in bed right before I go to sleep.  Now I’ll leave the first one alone, but the second one is a pretty consistent source of insights.  It appears when I am almost asleep, I must finally get out of God’s way and can hear fresh, God kind of thoughts. 

     1 John 1:7 says “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.”  My just-about-asleep thought had a phrase attached with it.  It went, “Steve you need to walk in the light, while living in the dark.”  Sometimes I think I’m in the dark a lot.  I don’t understand Tweeking (drug reaction I think) or Twittering or whatever the T word is.  I feel about a half step slow (I’m 50, be nice) these days.  Yet in this thought I realized being in the dark is not the problem; no one knows everything or can keep up with everything or “get” everything.  What counts is whether I am walking in the Light of Christ with what I do know and understand. 

    So are you walking in the light, while living in the dark?  Or would you describe your walk in this life and with God differently?

I think I am trying to communicate the love of God more often on the freeways of life instead of on the side streets.  Here in Phoenix, people are driving their vehicles fast and aggressively.  I try to just keep up with traffic on the freeways and main roads.  I find I can’t communicate much with others on the freeways and main streets.  “Staying Alive” is the theme song.

I think I am going to trying to put more attention into communicating with people on the side streets of their life and my life.  On the side streets we are going slower, and there more stop signs and more pediatricians, so I tend to notice small things more.  I think I am going to keep my expectations for the fast times realistic and just try to stay in my lane and watch out for unexpected movement.  Concentrate to survive.  But as I get off the main roads, I get more of a homey feel.  I feel like I want to know others and help out if I can.

Maybe it’s just me, but when the apostle Paul wrote “Encourage each other and lift each other up,” I think he must have been thinking about side street living.  So are you living wide open on the freeways, going fast everywhere?  Or are you making the most of the side streets of your life, slowing down to see and wave to your neighbor?  I am choosing to take more side streets.  Lord, keep me alert on the freeways.

I think I’m hooked on the TV series called “Lost”.  This is what happens when my young adult children make suggestions that I feel I must check out.  I can watch, for free on line, all the reruns at my leisure.  If you have never watched “Lost” it is the story of a group of passengers who survived a plane wreck on an island. It shows their pasts, personalities, strengths and weaknesses as they work to get along, survive and even thrive on an island that seems to have a mysterious second chance quality to it.     

What has been appealing to me is the struggle for community that I see taking place.  This is the struggle of our world.  Trying to figure out how to get along in a mysterious, changing sometimes hostile climate, where most of us have our own agenda’s and motives driving our thought and behaviors.

I’ve always been drawn to the Acts 4:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” In this passage I see common focus, common patterns and that lead to Acts 4:45-47 “All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Community is the word we are talking about here.  Living life in a way that calls for more than looking out for me, myself & I.

            Today, I realize that the show “Lost” is in many modern a parable of doing church in America.  I realize there are many opinions, many perspectives, many agendas and many people who have found refugee in Christ and are now trying to learn to live with the unfamiliar people in Christ’s family, the church. 

            This truly is the challenge of community in this world.  Each of us bringing our “stuff|” to Jesus and those other people who have discover refugee on the Island of God (we call that salvation) and are now trying to figure out how to live together.  Not just survive but possibly even enjoy each other and accept differentness as an important gift for thriving in such a complex environment.  A environment which has so many obstacles to spiritual and physical health.  The answer is Jesus’ idea of Community, people who share some things like faith in Christ with me, but who I need in order to thrive into the future.

            So do you appreciate those folks who are different from you at your church? Can you be okay with having Christ in common but not always understanding someone else choices?  I at times struggle accepting everyone but I am learning that this is the beauty of community. Community brings the beauty of having a God who loves and works with me.  Plus having a God who has given me a people to love and work with.  God’s intent is that we can together love and work with each other in this world where many of us at times feel “Lost”.