The Lord was so sweet to let me be privy to several conversations. Words I needed to hear. The first bit of wisdom was from the guest of honor. He reminded all hundred or so of us that being a Christian means living outside of ourselves. It means stepping outside the box. It means, not just praying for the less fortunate, but actually serving those we wouldn't necessarily cross paths with on our daily walk. Yes, it's an age old golden nugget. But What a word!
How often do we, as Americans, argue over where our tax dollars go? Who deserves help and who doesn't? How many times do we look at someone's clothing or car and secretly deem ourselves better than? How often do we, ourselves, judge someone's lifestyle and secretly think ourselves better than? How often do we, personally, think to ourselves that our grass is greener? Purer? More manicured? Come on! Can I get a witness?!
The second gem was from one of my favorite friends husband. I know. That was a mouthful. But eastern NC connecting the dots makes for a good story. They had heard a sermon on Sunday morning that truly resonated with me. To be a Christian you have to mingle with the world. Not be a part of it but make friends with it. If we stick with our same circle of friends, eh hmm me, you can't possibly expect the world to know (much less understand) the Gospel.
Right now there is so much mud slinging and finger pointing in the world. Christians? Yep, we are guilty as charged. We are so busy arguing our position for righteousness that we forget our wrongness is where Jesus met us. Hello?Anyone? Why in the world do we expect someone who doesn't know Christ to meet Him if we portray Him as ready to cast the first stone?
Let's be clear--we serve an awesome, all knowing and loving God. And, yes, He calls us to righteousness. He will judge our actions. And, yes, there are consequences for our disobedience. But if He is all knowing? Don't you think He knows the misgivings of those who are lost? Brilliant! Our job is to love. Bring them to a place where they see Him. Where, once saved, the Holy Spirit can convict their hearts. And, yes, if we see our brothers and sisters in Christ sinning we are called to correct. But our job as foot soldiers of the faith , in a fallen world, is to "let them know us by our love" (John 13:35).
I think back to my favorite second grade teacher. I was apparently a handful. Shocker. I loved her because she would never scold me in front of the class. She would always remove me from everyone. Stoop down to my eye level. She would praise me for all the positive things I did that day. She would then tell me what I needed to correct. Then she would hug me and say "Mrs. Delayo loves you! Let's get back to learning".
I believe, because His word tells us so, that Jesus is coming back for His church. Sooner than later. It's time for me to stop pointing out who is doing what wrong in this country. It's time for me to bare witness to as many people as I can.
My job? Your job? It's not pointing out what is wrong. It's pointing them to Who is right.
"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."-Romans 12:2
