Look At This...But Not That.

Yesterday I read an incredible post from Steven Furtick's blog. Just in case you are too lazy to click over there now, I've copied and pasted it below. Read it. Then get back to work!

Why do you stand looking …

Read Acts 1:9-11
Here’s a summary:

While Jesus was being transported into heaven following His resurrection, His followers watched with great interest.
Of course they did! The Son of God was being beamed up into the skies before their very eyes. It’s understandable that they would be tempted to rubberneck.

So when the angels interrupt the experience with the question:
Why do you stand here looking into the sky?
…I’ve got to admit, it comes across a little unfair. Don’t these guys have the right to star-gaze for a minute or two considering the magnitude of the moment?

It makes more sense if you put the question in context. In the same breath that the angel commands the disciples to stop staring upward, he reminds them of the urgency of their task:

Jesus is coming again. There is an imminent need for you to be His witnesses. (Jesus had just explained this in Acts 1:8 - you know the verse.)
So get your head out of the clouds, receive the Holy Spirit, and then get back to work.

Now consider how much more this rebuke would apply to many modern day followers of Christ.
Jesus is coming again, we have the message of the Gospel, and more resource and capability than ever before to be His witnesses.
But it seems like a lot of us have our heads in the clouds.

We critique one another’s methodologies rather than celebrating one another’s success.
We divide in camps over our dim interpretations of complicated theological issues rather than uniting under the banner of salvation through Christ alone.
We let small people with microscopic vision dictate the course of our ministry and limit the scope of our impact.

We can’t stand around with our heads in the clouds and our thumbs up our…noses. We don’t have a minute to waste or the luxury of pontification.

Jesus is coming! His Spirit is within us! We have power! We are the Church!
How dare we stand around looking in the sky-when there’s a world to win right in front of our face?