today was a good day.
i saw the most beautiful thing in the world today.
i got to see a group of eighteen people gather together to meet the needs of a community. i got to see these people get dirty, nasty and sweaty in the name of the King. i got to see people fall down, get hurt and keep going so that someone else besides themselves might benefit from it.
it was hot. it was tiring. and we were in a dirty, nasty apartment complex. we did lawn work, cleaned up scraps, gardening, and anything we could to bring life back to this broken down area. but i felt closer to jesus there than i feel at most church services. there was nobody there to thank those who came out, but they did it with smiles on their faces. they were in a place that could make a clown sad, but they shone like christ anyway.
its funny, i always get it in my head that im going to take jesus to the people who need him, and i end up falling apart because of how close jesus feels at those moments. i think there is as much benefit to us as followers of the King, as there is to those whose needs we are meeting. we can get so desensitized to jesus when we aren't answering his call to love.
go and love, and find jesus in dirty and nasty places.
in the places where you get dirt under your finger nails.
in the broken and lonely places.
in the tired and hurting places.
he's there.
i promise.....
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
tangibility
so i really love coffee.
so naturally i find myself sitting in McKinney's coffee shop here at ACC thinking about things and wishing i could drink coffee all day for the rest of my life without it being detrimental to my health.
as i sat there today, reflecting on all the thoughts that have flooded my head this week (literally flooded, because there is so much to them i get lost in them).
it all started when i read in a book about a lady who discussed her reason for coming to be a follower of christ. as i read i found something very interesting (interesting, not surprising). she said the what was most attractive about christianity was these christians she met at a poker night at a pub. she said the way the talked about god was nice, but what it was that caught her eye was the posture (the way they put their love for others on display, without regard to who they were and what they did) of these christians. they chose to sit down with her, and take a ginuine interest in her life over a pint. by the end of the night they had invited her to come have dinner with them (not go to church and forget about her) and walked her to her car.
i have spent most of the week asking myself, "why i have put so much emphasis and telling people about jesus instead of living like i want to be like jesus?" why am i not helping build inclusive community (community that is willing to accept people as they are and love them to making an informed descision on what they want to do with christianity) all around me? why am i hiding in my christian bubble instead of being with those that i want to have a heart for? if you want to have a heart for the poor, you have to be with the poor. if you want a heart for helping the sick, you have to be with the sick. if you want a heart for preteen, malnourished kenyan children, then you have to go and be with them.
we are so busy talking people's ear off about the great and mighty things jesus has done, that we forget to ask their name and shake their hands. we spend so much time trying to "get people saved" (a.k.a. pray a migical prayer) and then disciple them, that we don't give them time to process what it means to become a follower of christ. what if took an interest in someone and let them see jesus in they way walked and talked, then when they have a guine intrest about why we do what we do we begin to assist them. all the while watching jesus transform their lives. our posture speaks so much louder than we could ever yell in someones ear. our posture brings tangibility to "good news". we become the "good news" to those who have been looking for it their whole lives. why are we hiding in our gated communities (churches) telling people to come to us?
maybe it is time we realized that the kingdom of god can be everywhere from the slums in africa to the suburbs in america, in a pub, coffee shop, or house. maybe instead of sitting in our houses after work, we could wait at our windows for our neighbors to come out to get their mail and pretend we are doing the same just so we could strike up a conversation and invite them over for dinner. maybe instead of hanging out at our houses with our christian friends, we could go to a coffee shop just to meet someone new who might just need someone to help make some repairs on their portch. all that i am saying is that it's time that we ( i use we becuase i am deeply grieved that i have not done better) added some tangibility to our faith by living like we actually wanted to be like Jesus. if you want the heart...go.
so naturally i find myself sitting in McKinney's coffee shop here at ACC thinking about things and wishing i could drink coffee all day for the rest of my life without it being detrimental to my health.
as i sat there today, reflecting on all the thoughts that have flooded my head this week (literally flooded, because there is so much to them i get lost in them).
it all started when i read in a book about a lady who discussed her reason for coming to be a follower of christ. as i read i found something very interesting (interesting, not surprising). she said the what was most attractive about christianity was these christians she met at a poker night at a pub. she said the way the talked about god was nice, but what it was that caught her eye was the posture (the way they put their love for others on display, without regard to who they were and what they did) of these christians. they chose to sit down with her, and take a ginuine interest in her life over a pint. by the end of the night they had invited her to come have dinner with them (not go to church and forget about her) and walked her to her car.
i have spent most of the week asking myself, "why i have put so much emphasis and telling people about jesus instead of living like i want to be like jesus?" why am i not helping build inclusive community (community that is willing to accept people as they are and love them to making an informed descision on what they want to do with christianity) all around me? why am i hiding in my christian bubble instead of being with those that i want to have a heart for? if you want to have a heart for the poor, you have to be with the poor. if you want a heart for helping the sick, you have to be with the sick. if you want a heart for preteen, malnourished kenyan children, then you have to go and be with them.
we are so busy talking people's ear off about the great and mighty things jesus has done, that we forget to ask their name and shake their hands. we spend so much time trying to "get people saved" (a.k.a. pray a migical prayer) and then disciple them, that we don't give them time to process what it means to become a follower of christ. what if took an interest in someone and let them see jesus in they way walked and talked, then when they have a guine intrest about why we do what we do we begin to assist them. all the while watching jesus transform their lives. our posture speaks so much louder than we could ever yell in someones ear. our posture brings tangibility to "good news". we become the "good news" to those who have been looking for it their whole lives. why are we hiding in our gated communities (churches) telling people to come to us?
maybe it is time we realized that the kingdom of god can be everywhere from the slums in africa to the suburbs in america, in a pub, coffee shop, or house. maybe instead of sitting in our houses after work, we could wait at our windows for our neighbors to come out to get their mail and pretend we are doing the same just so we could strike up a conversation and invite them over for dinner. maybe instead of hanging out at our houses with our christian friends, we could go to a coffee shop just to meet someone new who might just need someone to help make some repairs on their portch. all that i am saying is that it's time that we ( i use we becuase i am deeply grieved that i have not done better) added some tangibility to our faith by living like we actually wanted to be like Jesus. if you want the heart...go.
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