a starting place
i think one of the things we really need to start seeing is that the sunday school answers of how a Christian should live dont cover everything. that there is no one answer fits all. that there is no formula for a Christian lifestyle.
there are many principles that we have been taught, and many different situations that we will face in life. there are alot of different voices out there trying to tell us how to interpret whats going on, whether we should play it safe, go with our gut, or just carry on our own way and try not to think of it. the thing is that even if we have been in a similar situation in life, that doesnt mean we know the answer the next time. this is not the same test question that your political science teacher reworded to be nice to you on your exam.
if we only seek out the surface level of things, then were not gonna find the nitty gritty. were not going to find that by giving personal attention to something will reveal a story, and complications that require much more thought and effort. and the ability to care for whats going on, because if you put your heart into something, you will become attached.
if we were to give ourselves fully to the world around us, (no, we cant give ourselves to everything that becons because we would become exhausted, but the world that we can effect and have a heart for) theres no telling the effect that could happen. when we step out of our comfort zones, at first its a little rough, but when you get past that there is this whole other world out there, and its not as outright hateful or desiring to chew you up on the spot as you might think.
for us in America today, we have so many freedoms that its hard to imagine not being able to have a cellphone by the time your 15, or hanging out at starbucks with your friends a few times a week while taking advantage of their free wifi for customers. thats where we need to get off sometimes. we shouldnt ignore the freedoms we have, on the contrary, we should use that in a way that instead of feeling like we are being persecuted and become defensive and fearful of the outside world, to engage a culture that, while may be morally corupt (find a place that isnt... really) that doesnt mean we have to hide or try and push political agendas that further alienate us from those we are called to love and care for.
there is a pettyness in all of us that tries to explain why we are better than someone else, or how we need to wait for someone better to come along because these people certainly wont due (i am not advocating this political correctness though, not the make everyone feel equal to a sense that people who are talented somewhere else feel that they have an equal chance with someone whos really good and therefor will be humiliated because they want what they arent good at). i am saying that we cant just sit and wait for something to happen. there is a desire, a drive in everyone, when you start getting upset that no one is doing the things that are layed heavy on your heart, maybe that means that you need to get up and do something about it, especially when the people around you dont seem to see it the same way you do.
we cant sit back and wait for the moment when it all "clicks", for the moment when the planets align and we are that better person, and we most of all cant sit back and wait for the end knowing that well be ok then. weve got to let ourselves be moved by the world around, let our hearts speak the words that weve been wanting, but werent sure if it really added up. theres something more than sitting and getting by and we cant just go watch movies to produce the emotions that we could let ourselves experience in real life if we let ourselves realize we knew how.
weve got to step out and not let the fear of the unknown push us back to complacency and showing the world around us that were really not that much different at all, when we bicker the same way, when we divorse the same way, when we speak of an amazing love, but we fight amungst ourlseves as much as anyone else and we let the corruption prove to us that we cant get out there and show the world, one little light at a time, that there is something amazing, powerful, and loving about what we know. we need to show what weve let ourselves shrug off as head knowledge.
we have to attempt to connect to the world around us because no one else will do it for us.
there are many principles that we have been taught, and many different situations that we will face in life. there are alot of different voices out there trying to tell us how to interpret whats going on, whether we should play it safe, go with our gut, or just carry on our own way and try not to think of it. the thing is that even if we have been in a similar situation in life, that doesnt mean we know the answer the next time. this is not the same test question that your political science teacher reworded to be nice to you on your exam.
if we only seek out the surface level of things, then were not gonna find the nitty gritty. were not going to find that by giving personal attention to something will reveal a story, and complications that require much more thought and effort. and the ability to care for whats going on, because if you put your heart into something, you will become attached.
if we were to give ourselves fully to the world around us, (no, we cant give ourselves to everything that becons because we would become exhausted, but the world that we can effect and have a heart for) theres no telling the effect that could happen. when we step out of our comfort zones, at first its a little rough, but when you get past that there is this whole other world out there, and its not as outright hateful or desiring to chew you up on the spot as you might think.
for us in America today, we have so many freedoms that its hard to imagine not being able to have a cellphone by the time your 15, or hanging out at starbucks with your friends a few times a week while taking advantage of their free wifi for customers. thats where we need to get off sometimes. we shouldnt ignore the freedoms we have, on the contrary, we should use that in a way that instead of feeling like we are being persecuted and become defensive and fearful of the outside world, to engage a culture that, while may be morally corupt (find a place that isnt... really) that doesnt mean we have to hide or try and push political agendas that further alienate us from those we are called to love and care for.
there is a pettyness in all of us that tries to explain why we are better than someone else, or how we need to wait for someone better to come along because these people certainly wont due (i am not advocating this political correctness though, not the make everyone feel equal to a sense that people who are talented somewhere else feel that they have an equal chance with someone whos really good and therefor will be humiliated because they want what they arent good at). i am saying that we cant just sit and wait for something to happen. there is a desire, a drive in everyone, when you start getting upset that no one is doing the things that are layed heavy on your heart, maybe that means that you need to get up and do something about it, especially when the people around you dont seem to see it the same way you do.
we cant sit back and wait for the moment when it all "clicks", for the moment when the planets align and we are that better person, and we most of all cant sit back and wait for the end knowing that well be ok then. weve got to let ourselves be moved by the world around, let our hearts speak the words that weve been wanting, but werent sure if it really added up. theres something more than sitting and getting by and we cant just go watch movies to produce the emotions that we could let ourselves experience in real life if we let ourselves realize we knew how.
weve got to step out and not let the fear of the unknown push us back to complacency and showing the world around us that were really not that much different at all, when we bicker the same way, when we divorse the same way, when we speak of an amazing love, but we fight amungst ourlseves as much as anyone else and we let the corruption prove to us that we cant get out there and show the world, one little light at a time, that there is something amazing, powerful, and loving about what we know. we need to show what weve let ourselves shrug off as head knowledge.
we have to attempt to connect to the world around us because no one else will do it for us.
posted by josh at 10:15 AM
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