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Haggai - Build God's House
Brian Mashburn
January 21, 2018
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Fanny Snap From A Prophet
A teacher of mine from long ago told a story about the development of airplane ejections seats. Though the tech was solid, there was an unusually large percentage of deaths happening to pilots who ejected. Not because the ejection systems malfunctioned, but because pilots would not let go of the seats! The chute was more than enough to save them, but out of fear or shock, they would hang on to the seats, which was too weighty for the chutes.
To remedy this, they added what they called a "fanny snapper" within the seats. It was engineered to go off at the same time that the chute would deploy, providing a strong electrical shock into the pilots "fanny". It was painful enough to jolt the pilot into the appropriate – and life-saving – action.
Today we begin a series out of the book of Haggai. Haggai was a prophet who served as a "fanny snapper"; to the people of God. They were supposed to be investing in God's Kingdom, building God's house, but had gotten deterred, sidetracked, and eventually... unmotivated.
How about you? We are almost halfway through the year where God has called you, through our elders, to take your next step towards spiritual maturity. Have you?
There is a spiritual condition that early Christian monks called "acedia". The word is lost to us these days, but the condition is not. Acedia is a sort of indifference, an apathy, a lack of interest or motivation, to do the things necessary to grow in Christ, and to advance his House.
The folks Haggai preached to claimed to love God first, above all things, and yet they failed to do the very things that would demonstrate it. They needed a "fanny snap" – enough to jolt them into the appropriate, life-giving action that they were being called to. Perhaps we do, too.