The Center of Bigger

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Like many American kids I spent some of my summer vacations at camp. And also like many American kids, if that camp had things to shoot, then it automatically gained a few points on the coolness scale in my mind. Leather-work was worth a half-point or so and a lake or pool gained two or three points. Guns or bows took you easily above ten. My recollection and great, ongoing angst was that I just wasn’t very good at either. The aim was to hit the center. My attempts were always more to the outer rings.

I was reminded today while reading Mark 7: 31-37 that amazement with Jesus is always the center of our faith-journey, and the bullseye of a bigger worship. In this text, people were “overwhelmingly amazed” at all He was doing and saying. The fact that their amazement required a further descriptor (overwhelmingly) seems pretty significant to me. This was an out-of-the-ordinary, astonished kind of response. One that left smaller things to be smaller things.

When I am happy consistently hitting the outer rings of worship–the elements, environments, and preferences of worship–I miss the true joy of scoring in the bullseye: overwhelming amazement at all that Jesus does, and everything He is. Let’s aim at the center, and end up living bigger.