this morning, i found myself in a contemplative state of mind. it seems for the last few weeks, i have been immersed in the world, looking at the issue of abortion, and trying to see God's face in it, to hear his voice. i read alot, websites and letters to the editor and blogs. i see the anger and the hurt in people's words, and i wonder how the Lord would respond to them, what i could do or say to be His voice? i am a marketing person, but i know it's not about ads or evidence or pretty graphics or convincing someone of their sin or blindness. i wonder what the Lord would look like in me, if He totally had His way with me?
i came across a very poetic blog this morning, and the words struck a chord:
And so, I just have to ask the question:
Why would any Christian who claims to follow Jesus not model and lead others to do what he did on a regular basis? If I’m not mistaken, he was known for laying low and for seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go. He could usually be found looking for the places only they would know.
This was a man who traveled dusty roads with sandaled feet, choosing not to walk lightly upon pampered, favored floors, but to press flesh to earth with its grit and grime, to conquer pre-conceived notions of a pristine existence.
And so, our charge is much the same. We must learn—in fact we must train ourselves—as Christians to accept with grace our mission to redefine who we are. We must communicate that we’re not just about what’s happening on the inside of a church building where we typically gather. We must stop hiding behind agendas and platforms. Who we are is out there, where congregating brothers and sisters find incarnation at the street level.
If it helps you, then imagine it so.
Imagine not a long train on the Bride’s dress, laid nicely and quite perfectly on the scarlet runway by prim and proper bridesmaids who purse their lips and shush away latecomers as they shut the door. Envision instead an outdoor wedding and the billowing of a gown that swells and fills with a welcoming breeze; where the Bride has one arm strapped around the Groom's waist, and with the other, she throws the lacey veil and her bouquet to the wind, beckoning all to her arms—all to a celebration!
If we truly begin to get this, then we can model it for others. Pretty soon, it’ll become second nature to all of us as we move to the rhythm of what this Bride—made up of Christians—was always supposed to look like.
And if you look at it that way, it really is about us.
To be sure, the lyrics of life are sad at times but there’s a place where the music of missional living can calm the beasts of infantile disagreements. It is a place where followers of Jesus choose to get beyond squabbles over minutia and imaginary lines; it is right there where the orchestration of saints reaches a crescendo and swaying arms strive in unison to love and serve a dying world.
I don't know about you, but that, my friends, is the kind of Christian I want to be.
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