Thoughts, Questions, and Ramblings on Life & the Christian Community

These thoughts originated from spending a lot of time with a friend of mine who is particularly guarded about basically everything. Because of that, I don't really know her as well as I thought I did, and long for a deeper connection because of it. Also, a talk given at the retreat I went to this weekend was on inclusion and understanding that each human is equally human. We are all called children of God and He loves us. They two kind of tie together, though I did a poor job of explaining it. However, these are just some questions/ideas/thoughts I began to write down yesterday, and here we are. I pray God will reveal Himself through this and give you (and me) wisdom. 

We believe the lie that no one cares about us unless somehow they are getting something in return. This simply isn't true. And yet how do we, as disciples of Christ, create a counterculture of selfless love? The Gospel we preach is inclusive. We believe that Jesus was radical because He hung out with the "unclean" in order for us to understand that He doesn't call us to judge who is unclean and who is not. It's the story of Cornelius and Peter in Acts 10 - give it a read.

Sort of a tangent. Sorry.

The point is, what will it look like for our generation of Jesus-lovers to combat the "me" generation we live in with the lasting truth of the selfless, mercy-loving Gospel? If we really are living in the name of Jesus, then we must be living to love His people. And we are all called the children of God.

What if we (I, you) made the decision to take responsibility for the state of your Christian community? I don't have very precise answers, really, but I'm praying to God for wisdom to discern how to act. It's hard, scary, overwhelming, and probably awkward. But it takes faith that with God all things are possible.

I care about people. I love relationships and I value them - they have worth. Relationships are hard. If you don't think so, you're wrong, delusional, or in an unhealthy relationship, or perhaps in none (which is doubtful).

Who decided that emotions were weaknesses? Who said you're a wimp if you ever cry? Who said weakness is even a bad thing? But rather, "most gladly I will boast in my infirmities, that the power of God may rest upon me." (2 Cor. 12:19)

I think it's about time we plunge into the waters of getting real, and continue finding the balance between that and guarding our hearts.

Let's break down the walls and be willing to bear one another's burdens.

James 5:16 says this:

"Confess your sings to one another & pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."

My prayer is that God would being to grow real, authentic, genuine relationships among Christians, and that we will begin to see each other as equally sinful, wretched, weak, small human beings, who by the grace of God are able to be so much more through the power of Christ in whom we find our identity.

Amen.