quality time
So I've been busy lately. I would rather find myself with my plate full as opposed to having nothing to do other than write blog posts. I think that preference for having my plate full carries through in truth to many aspects in my life. Take for instance the fact that I enjoy food. I'd rather have my plate full, but then again... if my plate is empty maybe I've just finished eating. Hmmm. Anyway, I digress.
I've be spending more time at Bridgeway lately. I haven't necessarily been spending any more time counseling, but just being with the guys more. I like these men. A year ago I don't think that I could have foreseen that I would be enjoying spending quality time with men who have such obviously sordid pasts. Really, what it comes down to is that my focus in ministry was never on involving myself in the lives of people who were "not like me." (Like me meaning... white upper middle class and Christian.) As I write this I find myself saddened by my lack of perception of the heart of Christ. Jesus got his hands dirty. He went to where people are. Jesus didn't go where everyone was nice and clean and where everything was in place. The truth of the matter was that he confronted people and situations that resembled that. He called them out and tried to help them see his heart. Christ went to the outcasts and the people who realized they needed him. I mean they really needed him. These people hit bottom and needed him to get them out.
How sad it is when we sit in our churches next to the same people every week singing the same songs and hearing the same three-point sermons with the same clever acrostics and stories. We sit in our padded seats... Because we're so modern we wouldn't dare use pews for fear of putting off a newcomer... and we play Christianity. We sit and go through the motions and don't pay any attention to the fact that "church-going people like me" are still sinners with sordid pasts of our own who are still in need of God's grace as much today as we did when we first heard his call.
Before anyone gets ticked at Greggy-boy here I must remind you that I am using inclusive terminology. I include me into this accusation. I... we... have neglected to believe that we (I) need Christ. We say the words and we have intellectual support as a basis of our affirmation of this doctrine, but we don't live like we need him.
This is what Christianity has been and will be, if we don't decide to hear the voice and heart of our Savior. We must heed his call and go out to the lost. We must bring the light into the vast darkness that has invaded and overcome our society. We must love people even if they are adulterous or spiteful or white collar or strung-out or in prison or Buddhist or homeless or gay or poor or gluttonous or black or... "like me." Now, I don't want to be accused of being "just some bleeding heart liberal" or something- I want to make clear that I am speaking of love. Love that extends beyond condition. I am speaking of a love that changes people when they experience it and let it into their lives. This is the love that Christ showed me; it is the love that didn't leave me lonely, depressed, and addicted to porn. Christ changed me. He likely changed you too. And may God have mercy enough to redirect us if we ever start to forget the depth of sin and darkness that we once lived in. We dare not forget, for if we do we become self-righteous pigs who wallow in false piety.
If I lose sight of who I am and what I've been delivered from I insult God. I can not look in the mirror and turn away to forget what I look like. (There seems to be more in James 1:22-24 than what I had previously understood.) I am spending more time with the men at Bridgeway because I can not be an effective minister of the Gospel there through doing drop-in evangelism. I must get my hands dirty. I must make myself vulnerable. I must get involved. I must love them. This takes more than an hour per week. And this is what love is. How can I expect one man to trust me or hear a word that is said from my mouth if I'm not able to show him that he is loved? I must show him he is a priority. I must show him that I'm willing to put my life on pause to help him experience God... because that message of God is just that important. It is that important. It takes precedence over my meals and my sleep and my finances and my $4 coffee and my desire to see Taylor Hicks perform on American Idol. God is that important and so are the people he loves.
Do something about it. Isn't this what faith is? Live your belief.
I've be spending more time at Bridgeway lately. I haven't necessarily been spending any more time counseling, but just being with the guys more. I like these men. A year ago I don't think that I could have foreseen that I would be enjoying spending quality time with men who have such obviously sordid pasts. Really, what it comes down to is that my focus in ministry was never on involving myself in the lives of people who were "not like me." (Like me meaning... white upper middle class and Christian.) As I write this I find myself saddened by my lack of perception of the heart of Christ. Jesus got his hands dirty. He went to where people are. Jesus didn't go where everyone was nice and clean and where everything was in place. The truth of the matter was that he confronted people and situations that resembled that. He called them out and tried to help them see his heart. Christ went to the outcasts and the people who realized they needed him. I mean they really needed him. These people hit bottom and needed him to get them out.
How sad it is when we sit in our churches next to the same people every week singing the same songs and hearing the same three-point sermons with the same clever acrostics and stories. We sit in our padded seats... Because we're so modern we wouldn't dare use pews for fear of putting off a newcomer... and we play Christianity. We sit and go through the motions and don't pay any attention to the fact that "church-going people like me" are still sinners with sordid pasts of our own who are still in need of God's grace as much today as we did when we first heard his call.
Before anyone gets ticked at Greggy-boy here I must remind you that I am using inclusive terminology. I include me into this accusation. I... we... have neglected to believe that we (I) need Christ. We say the words and we have intellectual support as a basis of our affirmation of this doctrine, but we don't live like we need him.
This is what Christianity has been and will be, if we don't decide to hear the voice and heart of our Savior. We must heed his call and go out to the lost. We must bring the light into the vast darkness that has invaded and overcome our society. We must love people even if they are adulterous or spiteful or white collar or strung-out or in prison or Buddhist or homeless or gay or poor or gluttonous or black or... "like me." Now, I don't want to be accused of being "just some bleeding heart liberal" or something- I want to make clear that I am speaking of love. Love that extends beyond condition. I am speaking of a love that changes people when they experience it and let it into their lives. This is the love that Christ showed me; it is the love that didn't leave me lonely, depressed, and addicted to porn. Christ changed me. He likely changed you too. And may God have mercy enough to redirect us if we ever start to forget the depth of sin and darkness that we once lived in. We dare not forget, for if we do we become self-righteous pigs who wallow in false piety.
If I lose sight of who I am and what I've been delivered from I insult God. I can not look in the mirror and turn away to forget what I look like. (There seems to be more in James 1:22-24 than what I had previously understood.) I am spending more time with the men at Bridgeway because I can not be an effective minister of the Gospel there through doing drop-in evangelism. I must get my hands dirty. I must make myself vulnerable. I must get involved. I must love them. This takes more than an hour per week. And this is what love is. How can I expect one man to trust me or hear a word that is said from my mouth if I'm not able to show him that he is loved? I must show him he is a priority. I must show him that I'm willing to put my life on pause to help him experience God... because that message of God is just that important. It is that important. It takes precedence over my meals and my sleep and my finances and my $4 coffee and my desire to see Taylor Hicks perform on American Idol. God is that important and so are the people he loves.
Do something about it. Isn't this what faith is? Live your belief.
posted by Gregg @ 11:44 AM
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