As I sat in the balcony pew listening to my pastor’s sermon, he used an exercise wheel that a hampster runs around in to demonstrate a very interesting point. He discussed the ‘rat-race’ of life and how many people run and run; but like the hampster in the exercise wheel, get nowhere. I pondered this and immediately remembered this Rush song from their Grace Under Pressure CD.

“Between The Wheels”

To live between a rock and a hard place
In between time
Cruising in prime time
Soaking up the cathode rays
To live between the wars in our time
Living in real time
Holding the good time
Holding on to yesterdays

[Chorus]

You know how that rabbit feels
Going under your speeding wheels
Bright images flashing by
Like windshields towards a fly
Frozen in the fatal climb
But the wheels of time
Just pass you by
Wheels can take you around
Wheels can cut you down
We can go from boom to bust
From dreams to a bowl of dust
We can fall from rockets’ red glare
Down to “Brother can you spare…”
Another war?
Another wasteland?
And another lost generation?

It slips between your hands like water
This living in real time
A dizzying lifetime
Reeling by on celluloid
Struck between the eyes
By the big-time world
Walking uneasy streets
Hiding beneath the sheets
Got to try and fill the void

[Chorus]

Wheels can take you around
Wheels can cut you down
From the rockets’ red glare
Down to “Brother can you spare…”
Another war?
Another wasteland?
And another lost generation?

While many fall into the performance trap and run around inside the wheel, I thought about myself and decided that many times, I am squashed between the wheels. On one side is the wheel of performance based blessing while on the other side is the wheel of time and wondering why I am not where I need to be at the age that I am now (late thirties). We do live between The Rock (of Christ) and the hard places of life, wilderness, wind, and weather as the battle of choice rages war between right/wrong and no absolutes. Where we used to go out and research for ourselves the truths and The Truth, we have allowed ourselves to have our opinion based on the nightly news, the religious right, or what some big religious leader thinks. Where we once read our Bible, pray to God, and worshipped him in Spirit and in Truth in being hearers and doers of the Word, we have allowed televangelism and the scandals associated with it to dictate to the world that this is the real Christianity.

I am living between the wars of our time. Rumors of war in a distant land versus an undeclaired but fought war in Iraq. Rumors of a war against the death of America by the ‘demoncrats’ versus the spiritual warfare of spiritual wickedness and high places. The wheels of church leaders defining the ‘emerging seeker sensitive’ future which is the old stuff with names changed versus the backwoods preacher who thinks Christianity died when the air conditioner, padded pews, and the fellowship hall were invented.

Somedays I feel like the roadkill that gets squashed under the speeding wheel called progress. I feel like the fly swarming for the action only to hit the clear wall between me and the action. The wheels of religion have taken us around. The same wheels of dead legalistic religion have also cut us down. From the boom of ‘the next great revival’ to the bust of a flawed theology and a flawed leader. From the prophetic dreams of super destiny to the dustbowl of the wasteland left over from the tearing down of what I once believed.

Have we lost the voice of God in exchange for patriotism is God’s real Christianity? Are we ready for another war or another rumor of war? Brother, can you spare another dime for another faith jet, Lexus, and mansion for a televangelist? Brother, can you spare another war that divides the church instead of unifies the church (because unity is unanimity in the church)? Brother, can you spare another wasteland that fell because of the sandy foundation of wrong theology preached years ago by the same evangelist who now needs his Jesus jet that now denies he ever preached the wasteland theology? Ladies and Gentleman, can we now spare another lost generation who wanted an authentic relationship with Jesus but got facades of fanaticism, liturgical lies, Christian cliches, pop-culture prophets, media messiahs, seeker sensitive saviors, emergent eunnichs, and bankrupt bishops?

We can not afford another wrong decision and action. We can not afford to keep spinning the wheel.

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