Hangin' Out

A full week of summer camp is just finished, and The Amazing Joanne and I spent that time with a wonderfully charming and crazy-energetic bunch of teens and staff at 8,500 feet near Buffalo Creek.  We ran around together doing sports, chapel, meals and a lot of other fun things.  For me, the best was just hangin' out -- after a meal, before an activity, a chance encounter along the path, even a conversation while putting clean dishes away.  To have that kind of relaxed fun with a friend (old or brand-new) was a treat. 

Jesus hung out with his disciples a lot.  The video "Matthew," shot using the NIV of the Gospel of Matthew as its script, shows Jesus (played with depth and passion by Bruce Marchiano) laughing, teasing and conversing with his disciples; a real look at God in the flesh. Rather than just preaching all the time, Jesus is shown hangin' out with his followers, whom he treats as friends, and having conversations with them.  There is plenty of teaching, of course; but a lot of it is in the process of everyday life with its ups and downs.  He settles arguments, uses everyday events as teaching moments, and even engages in a water fight with his 'dorm' in a local stream.  (It doesn't show who won, but I have an idea.)

The Boss said at the end of Matthew, 28:19-20, that we should make disciples wherever we go; and then, he said "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  His words "I am" are in the plain ol' present tense, not anything conditional.  So he's still walking around with us, hangin' out as it were, teaching us as we go, and helping us figure out what this "discipling" thing is about. 

So I think the best thing we can do is to learn how to 'hang out' with Jesus better and better.  To be more aware that he is here (in the person of the Holy Spirit, who "will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13) and be more careful to listen.  We know he wants to lead us; so we need to 'listen up' as we sometimes say at camp, to be able to hear him.  He'll teach us through the written Word, through awareness of the spiritual realities all around us, through the good words of friends, and other ways.  Let's see what happens if we 'listen up' even better, shall we?