Mark 8:1-3
During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance."
Jesus had been speaking to these people a while, sharing what He came to earth to share, all that stuff. But this passage right here makes it clear that Jesus cared about the people He was talking to. He wasn't there just to shove the Truth in their face and get His work done. Underneath the Truth He gave them was love. Loving them- loving us- was His work.
This reminds me of a part of my favorite book, The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, which is a true account of the pastor's inner-city ministry to drug addicts, prostitutes, gang fighters, and runaways. (This book was the last push that made me want to work with these kinda people, just saying.) I'd love to have the book right now so I would not screw up this conveyenceness of information, buuuuut I'll work with what I've got.
At one point in the book, Wilkerson has a dream that he is preaching a sermon to a bunch of kids in this church. And by kids, I mean drug addicts and prostitutes and all those kinds of people. People far from God who honestly don't care about his ministry at all. While he's preaching, these people are in the pews getting drunk, fighting, making a mess of the church, and having sex. Like, in the pew. While he's preaching about Jesus.
Wilkerson's first response was to want to yell at them all to stop, and to tell them they were horrible people for treating God with no respect. But then he heard God speak to him. And all God said was, "Just love them."
As in, "Who cares what you're preaching if you don't have love for them! Jesus had love for who he spoke to. Love like Jesus loved."
As in, "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3)
As in, "Do not be proud, but be willing to to associate with people of low position." (Romans 12:16)
As in, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8)
I think you get the point.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Brad.
This week at work, Brad visited.
Brad. The owner of the froyo store in which I am employed. The one who watches my fellow employees and I on the security cameras at the easy access of his phone. The one who takes screenshots of us when we're being lazy in front of the camera and sends them to our manager. The one who we write lists of things to do in order to make Brad happy for his visitations. The one for whom we get on our hands and knees and scrub the floors with toothbrushes for. Braaaaaaad.
I exaggerated a little, but not much. Actually, the only exaggeration was the toothbrush thing.
Anyway, I heard a few days previous that Brad was coming in, and that everything needed to be perfect for his arrival. A list was made of every object in the building that needed to be thoroughly cleansed for Brad's approval. Because nobody wants to be the unfortunate loser who upsets Brad.
Having completed some preparations for this sir, I soon found myself cutting brownies and watching this random man come in the back with a bunch of boxes of froyo lids. I just looked at him and then continued cutting brownies, because random people I don't know seem to show up a lot and I usually don't know how to respond to them. I didn't really see a need to entertain the delivery man anyway, since BRAAAAAD was coming that weekend sometime.
My coworker asked him if he needed any help, and he said he had it, and so he went back outside to retrieve more lids.When he came back and my coworker left, he put more boxes on the floor and smiled all kindly and asked my name. When I told him, he said simply, "Nice to meet you. I'm Brad."
I think I died. I was probably screwing something up as we spoke. And this guy was supposed to be scary. But he wasn't. And before I knew it, he was randomly working next to me and making froyo mixes and asking about my church and prospective college for an hour.
It was weird beyond weird watching the man who usually watches me. He was busy making them mixes and apologizing for making a mess.I lived in constant fear of security cameras because of this guy? He was wearing hiking gear! And he was nice!
Moral of the story was this: I feel like a lot of us live in fear of God's watchful eye. Like we know he's watching us on his smart phone on them security cameras, so we don't do bad things, because nobody wants to get fired for eating all the Reese's. It's as if we don't know him sometimes, because he's no one but an all-seeing authority just waiting for an excuse to take back the salvation he gave us
But that's not him at all. He's not just chilling up there, watching you on his phone when he gets bored late at night. He's right there next to you, working beside you, helping you out, spending that time with you. That was kinda why Jesus came down here. Not to make sure we fulfilled the list of things we needed to do, not to make sure we followed the law perfectly, but to work beside us, to give us another chance, to help us. This is where the Brad analogy ends, I suppose. Jesus came to give you a reason to obey- love. Not fear. So knowing that, you can have confidence that when God's watching you, he's watching you with love, ready to help you out and give you Himself. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating. Love and fear cannot exist in the same vessel. Either you're obeying Him out of fear or out of love, and it's a conscious decision you have to make. You know this.
So anyway. I'm still not going to do bad things in front of the security camera. But just because I don't wanna do bad things anyway. Right? Brad would still fire me if I did illegal things.
Brad. The owner of the froyo store in which I am employed. The one who watches my fellow employees and I on the security cameras at the easy access of his phone. The one who takes screenshots of us when we're being lazy in front of the camera and sends them to our manager. The one who we write lists of things to do in order to make Brad happy for his visitations. The one for whom we get on our hands and knees and scrub the floors with toothbrushes for. Braaaaaaad.
I exaggerated a little, but not much. Actually, the only exaggeration was the toothbrush thing.
Anyway, I heard a few days previous that Brad was coming in, and that everything needed to be perfect for his arrival. A list was made of every object in the building that needed to be thoroughly cleansed for Brad's approval. Because nobody wants to be the unfortunate loser who upsets Brad.
Having completed some preparations for this sir, I soon found myself cutting brownies and watching this random man come in the back with a bunch of boxes of froyo lids. I just looked at him and then continued cutting brownies, because random people I don't know seem to show up a lot and I usually don't know how to respond to them. I didn't really see a need to entertain the delivery man anyway, since BRAAAAAD was coming that weekend sometime.
My coworker asked him if he needed any help, and he said he had it, and so he went back outside to retrieve more lids.When he came back and my coworker left, he put more boxes on the floor and smiled all kindly and asked my name. When I told him, he said simply, "Nice to meet you. I'm Brad."
I think I died. I was probably screwing something up as we spoke. And this guy was supposed to be scary. But he wasn't. And before I knew it, he was randomly working next to me and making froyo mixes and asking about my church and prospective college for an hour.
It was weird beyond weird watching the man who usually watches me. He was busy making them mixes and apologizing for making a mess.I lived in constant fear of security cameras because of this guy? He was wearing hiking gear! And he was nice!
Moral of the story was this: I feel like a lot of us live in fear of God's watchful eye. Like we know he's watching us on his smart phone on them security cameras, so we don't do bad things, because nobody wants to get fired for eating all the Reese's. It's as if we don't know him sometimes, because he's no one but an all-seeing authority just waiting for an excuse to take back the salvation he gave us
But that's not him at all. He's not just chilling up there, watching you on his phone when he gets bored late at night. He's right there next to you, working beside you, helping you out, spending that time with you. That was kinda why Jesus came down here. Not to make sure we fulfilled the list of things we needed to do, not to make sure we followed the law perfectly, but to work beside us, to give us another chance, to help us. This is where the Brad analogy ends, I suppose. Jesus came to give you a reason to obey- love. Not fear. So knowing that, you can have confidence that when God's watching you, he's watching you with love, ready to help you out and give you Himself. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating. Love and fear cannot exist in the same vessel. Either you're obeying Him out of fear or out of love, and it's a conscious decision you have to make. You know this.
So anyway. I'm still not going to do bad things in front of the security camera. But just because I don't wanna do bad things anyway. Right? Brad would still fire me if I did illegal things.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
This Whole Identity Thing
I know you've heard it. "Find your identity in Christ!" Everyone says it, especially when referring to idols. Especially idols who are of the opposite gender and make you feel happy about yourself. I say it, but just because I'm a Christian and that is what Christians say.
Except now it kinda makes more sense. So, I sorta thought about self-evaluation, and I would appreciate any reader of this to just consider this for a second.
So, finding your identity. Think about a relationship in your life that's really, really good right now. Chances are, you probably picked someone that you friend-zoned, in which case I apologize for that misfortune. But if you didn't pick that friend-zone person, you may have picked your best friend that you call all the time in order to scream stupid things in their ear. That's my idea of a friend, anyway. So, if you were to identify yourself by the way that person sees you, what would your identity be?
I guess I'll use myself as an example. Yay. Hmm. Well, I'll use the only person in the world that I talk to regularly as my example. If I were to find my identity in that person and what they think of me, my identity would be pretty good. That person tends to think I am funny and really Christ-focused and that I have a decent personality and that I am worth being friends with. So, I mean, that's good right there.
Okay, think of a relationship in your life that kinda sucks a lot. What would you look like if you were to base your identity on the way that person treats you or feels about you?
If I were to find my identity there, I would probably hate myself. According to them, I'm a hypocrite, I'm not pretty enough, my personality is annoying, my opinions don't matter, I have to earn the right to be accepted, I'll suck at college because I'm a failure, and I screw everything up.
Obviously, your identity in those two different relationships are drastically different, and honestly, based on fading opinions. People aren't reliable enough for you to base your identity on their opinions.What happens when their opinion changes?
Sometimes we find our identities in what we do or how well we do it. Just like what other people think of you isn't who you are, what you do isn't who you are, either. So you're really good at painting. What happens if you can't paint anymore for some reason? Then where's your identity? What if you've convinced yourself you suck at everything? Is your identity found in failure?
That's why people have to find their identities in Christ, because he never ever changes his opinion of you or how he feels about you. However, when you find your identity in Him, you give him permission to tell you who you are and to change your heart to match what he wants it to be.
That always pleases God.
A good way to find your identity in Christ is to remind yourself that what he says about you is truth over what anyone or anything says about you. And that means hiding His word in your heart.
Ephesians 2:19
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
Colossians 2:13-14
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
John 1:12-13
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
Except now it kinda makes more sense. So, I sorta thought about self-evaluation, and I would appreciate any reader of this to just consider this for a second.
So, finding your identity. Think about a relationship in your life that's really, really good right now. Chances are, you probably picked someone that you friend-zoned, in which case I apologize for that misfortune. But if you didn't pick that friend-zone person, you may have picked your best friend that you call all the time in order to scream stupid things in their ear. That's my idea of a friend, anyway. So, if you were to identify yourself by the way that person sees you, what would your identity be?
I guess I'll use myself as an example. Yay. Hmm. Well, I'll use the only person in the world that I talk to regularly as my example. If I were to find my identity in that person and what they think of me, my identity would be pretty good. That person tends to think I am funny and really Christ-focused and that I have a decent personality and that I am worth being friends with. So, I mean, that's good right there.
Okay, think of a relationship in your life that kinda sucks a lot. What would you look like if you were to base your identity on the way that person treats you or feels about you?
If I were to find my identity there, I would probably hate myself. According to them, I'm a hypocrite, I'm not pretty enough, my personality is annoying, my opinions don't matter, I have to earn the right to be accepted, I'll suck at college because I'm a failure, and I screw everything up.
Obviously, your identity in those two different relationships are drastically different, and honestly, based on fading opinions. People aren't reliable enough for you to base your identity on their opinions.What happens when their opinion changes?
Sometimes we find our identities in what we do or how well we do it. Just like what other people think of you isn't who you are, what you do isn't who you are, either. So you're really good at painting. What happens if you can't paint anymore for some reason? Then where's your identity? What if you've convinced yourself you suck at everything? Is your identity found in failure?
That's why people have to find their identities in Christ, because he never ever changes his opinion of you or how he feels about you. However, when you find your identity in Him, you give him permission to tell you who you are and to change your heart to match what he wants it to be.
That always pleases God.
A good way to find your identity in Christ is to remind yourself that what he says about you is truth over what anyone or anything says about you. And that means hiding His word in your heart.
Ephesians 2:19
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
Colossians 2:13-14
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
John 1:12-13
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
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