Keep Calm or Get Excited?

This week I observed an athlete running down the sidewalk with his two, giant labrador retrievers on either side of him. I watched the dogs progressively get wilder and wilder as the athelete-owner cheered them on, exciting them with a squeaky voice only a dog lover would be brave enough to use in public. Tongues lapping, paces accelerating, and tails wagging, the dogs leapt and bit at the leashes and playfully jolted at each other, looking up at their owner for the next morale-boosting, excitement-generating bit of play.

As the runner and his dogs passed by me, I caught sight of an old woman walking up the sidewalk. She stared at the dog owner, put-off by his absurd babble and the frenzy it was inciting in those glee-filled dogs. I watched her silently mouth "oh my gosh," in judgment as the trio raced by like a whirlwind of fascination --dogs with owner, owner with dogs.

Because I'm entering Christian ministry (and my mind is now just INFECTED with this kind of thinking… no hope of return…), I couldn't help but read this brief scenario theologically.

I wonder if we respond to God's gracious action in Jesus with an excited energy comparable to the wild and infatuated energy of those labrador retrievers. Why shouldn't we have that sort of response, at least from time to time; we who believe that Jesus lived, died for our sin, resurrected from death in victory for us, and ascended to God promising to come again for us; we who believe God has declared that through his Messiah he will make all things new? Like the enthusiastic dog-runner, God sticks by and leads his people who trust in him, urging us and reminding us of his love, his grace, his mercy in Jesus, watching the Spirit awaken and excite us and cause us to move in his sweeping global mission.

I wonder if we're more like the old woman most of the time. We see those enthusiastic Christians and just stare, perplexed, even as we look down our noses at them. "Have some self-respect," we might say. "Put your tongue back in your mouth!" We're sure, like the old woman, that these Christians are excited about the gospel, but they shouldn't make such a show, for goodness' sake. They should probably slow to a jog, keep their heads and backs straight -- it's a workout, after all, isn't it? -- breathe steadily, don't bite the leash, etc. And, all things considered, some of that isn't bad advice; it's quite good! If we're going to run the race of faith marked out for us (a marathon, no doubt), we should pace ourselves, be wise about outbursts of energy, and watch our posture.

But that sort of caution misses the point.

Play-it-safe, keep-it-down Christian spirituality doesn't tend to impulsively run out and kiss the prodigal son or throw an extravagant, impromptu party for him either (Luke 15). It appears to me that Romans 5:6 says that we were the prodigals, and God ran out to kiss and embrace us:

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6, NIV).

It's the sort of news that sends you biting at the leash before you even realize you look silly.