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.
Friday, August 8, 2008
love begats love which begats love and so on and so forth...
a recent conversation via email that i have been apart of has really gotten me pretty bummed...not so bummed that the rest of the day seems lost, but bummed enough to feel the need to talk about this right now (1:35am). im not angry or upset, but simply saddened at what some people have told me. before i discuss what was said and why it bothers me so much, i would like to define two words:
fear-to be afraid or feel anxious and apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event.
faith-complete confidence in a person or plan; loyalty or allegiance to a cause or person
now that you know that let me explain what is bothering me so much...when i read the new testament (specifically the gospels) and see hanging out with sinners, teaching his disciples, or performing one of his many miracles i never felt like jesus was trying to make disciples by scarring them into the descision. granted everyone (no matter who you are, where you come from, or how how hard you try not to) brings something-some sort of preconceived notion-to the table (becuase it is humanly impossible to read the bible in a completely objective manner), but even with that it seems to only make sense that jesus impacted people's lives out of love, not with fear.
but in this conversation that i have been apart of, the other contributor mad e the comment that "like it or not, jesus was a 'hell-fire' preacher" and that people needed to know that they were dying and going to hell. the question that immediately popped in my head is, "how can that possibly lead to faith?" for instance, if you lived on a small island with 100 people on your side. and one day you hear that on the other side of the island there is this king who has established an extremely powerful kingdom, and that he is coming to your half to kill all those who oppose him. the next day the kings army shows up and some of the soldier insist that all you have to do is bow and you will be spared from a life of torture and punishment. naturally, that person going to do whatever it takes to save himself from such a fate, but he will not bow out of love for the king but out of fear.
fear can force you to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons, but love gives birth to more love. what is it exactly that we christians are doing when we tell people that they are heading for an eternity in hell if the don't repent right now? we are creating fear, not true love. it is love that leads to faith and loyalty. in the end, fear subsides and ends up in rebelion, but love begats love which begats more love. i know that it can't work everytime. what i am getting at though is if you walk down the street and tell a random man or woman that she is dying and going to hell they will do one of two things: a) tell you to piss off of b) "repent" and go back to the same life a month later. on the other end, if you walk down the street and meet person, take them to lunch, find out what their needs are, do your best to meet them, and when they ask why tell the you and jesus love them, i can see i much bigger window opening that will lead to love. and love gives birth to faith.
we are saved by grace through faith, not fear. we cannot (no matter how much we want to) replace faith with fear.
fear-to be afraid or feel anxious and apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event.
faith-complete confidence in a person or plan; loyalty or allegiance to a cause or person
now that you know that let me explain what is bothering me so much...when i read the new testament (specifically the gospels) and see hanging out with sinners, teaching his disciples, or performing one of his many miracles i never felt like jesus was trying to make disciples by scarring them into the descision. granted everyone (no matter who you are, where you come from, or how how hard you try not to) brings something-some sort of preconceived notion-to the table (becuase it is humanly impossible to read the bible in a completely objective manner), but even with that it seems to only make sense that jesus impacted people's lives out of love, not with fear.
but in this conversation that i have been apart of, the other contributor mad e the comment that "like it or not, jesus was a 'hell-fire' preacher" and that people needed to know that they were dying and going to hell. the question that immediately popped in my head is, "how can that possibly lead to faith?" for instance, if you lived on a small island with 100 people on your side. and one day you hear that on the other side of the island there is this king who has established an extremely powerful kingdom, and that he is coming to your half to kill all those who oppose him. the next day the kings army shows up and some of the soldier insist that all you have to do is bow and you will be spared from a life of torture and punishment. naturally, that person going to do whatever it takes to save himself from such a fate, but he will not bow out of love for the king but out of fear.
fear can force you to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons, but love gives birth to more love. what is it exactly that we christians are doing when we tell people that they are heading for an eternity in hell if the don't repent right now? we are creating fear, not true love. it is love that leads to faith and loyalty. in the end, fear subsides and ends up in rebelion, but love begats love which begats more love. i know that it can't work everytime. what i am getting at though is if you walk down the street and tell a random man or woman that she is dying and going to hell they will do one of two things: a) tell you to piss off of b) "repent" and go back to the same life a month later. on the other end, if you walk down the street and meet person, take them to lunch, find out what their needs are, do your best to meet them, and when they ask why tell the you and jesus love them, i can see i much bigger window opening that will lead to love. and love gives birth to faith.
we are saved by grace through faith, not fear. we cannot (no matter how much we want to) replace faith with fear.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
oh the colors...
this is the most quiet moment of my week, and it's everything i dreamed it could be. but there is one thing that has been rolling around in my head the past few days. it started when i had a conversation with a friend (who name i will spare for his/her sake), and the further we got into the conversation the more and more frustrated i got at how (for lack of a better word) stupid some "christians" can be. it amazes me that "christians" today try and paint the world black and white, insisting that some things are always right and the rest is always "evil". it takes everything in me at moments like these to not point my finger and blame the state of "christianity" on legalistic fundies, but to do so would defeat my own arguement (so i respectfully disagree with them). most of us have been in a church setting in which we are told what to believe...but never why. that is how it was for me in the latter half of my teenage christian walk, but then i met some people who encouraged me to start thinking... and through these men Christ set me free.
why christianity has become o.k. with the easy answers. we don't want to learn about truth and beauty, we just want our music labeled. we don't want to learn about politics and government, we just want to be told who "Jesus would vote for" (which in my opinion if some guy thinks he know who Jesus would vote for he has got some brass... well lets just say he is bold...). we don't want to learn about moderation and liberty, because "good christians" prefer a shot of grape juice. we don't want to learn how to live like a free man, love our enemies, or listen to the Spirit, we just want a new law and more rules (because supposedly that will make things better). we don't want to know if the answers aren't easy, and we want everything brought down from the mountains for us without having to go up there ourselves! the only thing is there is no use in trading a law you could never keep but can free you, for one can but can't get you anything!****much of the above paragraph is adopted from Derek Webb's song "A New Law".
when did christians stop being o.k. with not being able understand everything about the Unknowable God? when did we let go of the life Christ called us to (which is and impossible one, but the one we are called to nonetheless), for our own cheap imitation of it? it truely breaks my heart that we have divided the world in half between good and evil, when, whether we want to admit it or not, this world is littered with "gray areas". the only problem with some christians today is instead of embracing their freedom, they slam on more and more chains. i do not intend to say that everything is fair game, but i do intend to say that most of us need stop living like the pastor's pet parot (yes that was alliteration for sake of alliteration, try it sometime) and use the beautiful mind that Christ has given to us. its time to stop being told what to think about everything, and embrace being free in Christ and try on liberty!
it's a beautiful, colorful world with things we will never be able to fully get a handle on, but that is what makes this life so great. we have freedom in Christ, not to live in whatever fasion we please, but to embody love and be purveyors of it in whatever fasion necessary to help prepare this beautiful, multi-colored world for the kingdom of God!
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