Do you see the church as a business? You may think this is a sacrilegious comparison, but what lessons can you learn from this? What product is the church offering for sale? The forgiveness of sins? How effectively does it market this product? Is there sufficient demand for this from the potential customer base to keep the church in business? Should the church do some market research to find out what people want and need to find out if there are opportunities to expand the product line? Would the church profit by addressing existential questions about identity, belonging, and meaning?

I tell you that he who seeks to save his life will lose it, but that he who loses his life for my sake will find it. Does this seem like a paradox to you? Do you understand what it means? Do you desire the transformation that I offer you? It doesn’t matter how much you want it if you are unwilling to let go of what you have. If you think of spiritual growth only as acquisition it explains why you have trouble with this concept. What you currently cling to will oppose your progress. Could it be that you suffer from having too much rather than too little?

Have you ever wanted something with great intensity and obtained it and been disappointed in it? Disappointments correspond to great expectations. The more you imagine that something will be satisfying and even life transforming the harder it is for that thing to live up to your expectations. If you have experienced this in the past, perhaps you should recalibrate your expectations going forward. Reasonable expectations lead to fewer disappointments. My followers have been called sojourners and pilgrims.

Are you familiar with the story about Jacob wrestling with me? The story says he wrestled with a man, but you would correctly infer that this was no ordinary man. Have you ever wrestled with a God you can’t see? You may recall from the story that the wrestling match took place at night, and further that this man/angel/God was motivated to end the engagement before sunrise when he would have been visible, for no man can see God and live. Do you view this encounter as a positive or negative experience for Jacob? Do you think it would be beneficial for you to wrestle with me?