Going Through the Motions

ZUMBA!!!   Or is it ZOOMBA?!!  Well, you know what it is, right?  It’s one of those classes where you pay to watch some super skinny, hyperactive girl, bounce and jump and skip and twirl and bend in ways that would kill any ordinary human being, and all the while she is vociferously urging you to do exactly what she does.  (Yeah, right).  And even though she is always smiling, she still kinda looks like she is in pain.  And in order to distract you from the pain you are experiencing, she plays some very loud, high-energy, upbeat music.  I don’t know if the music has words to it or not, but it doesn’t really matter, because after a few seconds of zoombaing you are panting and wheezing so loudly you couldn’t understand any words if you heard them.

There’s a lot of motion to Zumba, and for most of us, there is a lot of motion to life.   We’re always going somewhere, doing something, moving from one place or one task to another, “going through the motions.”

Those of you good Presbyterians who were in church last Sunday heard me quote part of that Matthew West song, “The Motions.”  The refrain goes like this:  “I don't wanna go through the motions, I don't wanna go one more day, without Your all consuming passion inside of me.  I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, "What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?" 

“Amen” to that!  Getting the most out of life, or your faith, certainly involves doing more than just “going through the motions. ”  This is not Zumba, people!  This is the life changing, power producing, people healing, Gospel of Jesus Christ!!  Jesus is real clear about it in Matthew 16:25:  “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ”

What Jesus is talking about is discipleship, that is, a “life changing, following Jesus kind of faith” that involves so much more than “going through the motions.”  Losing your life for the sake of Jesus means giving up who you used to be, so that Christ can make you who he wants you to be. 

Now the path to this kind of transformation is different for everyone, but I’ve got an invitation for you.  If you have somehow found your way to this blog, and you want to talk with me about a discipleship that involves more than “going through the motions,” send me an email  (fpcjohn@eplus.net).  I promise I’ll write you or call you or text you or something, because this is very important stuff.  It’s all about a life in motion, and I’m not talking about Zumba!

PS-  If you want to watch that Matthew West video, you can find it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMAjC7NaItA.