I was reading one of my class texts this morning (Radical by David Platt) and it made me rethink one of our most fundamental scriptures. Many of us have a tendency to define Christianity as "God loves me." Emphasis on the me. (I know I've been guilty of this.) We attend church and we receive the message that day, but do we share it with anyone else? We pray, but are we praying for ourselves or others? We go to church on Sunday, but do we think about serving God and his people the rest of the week? These are all questions posed by a chapter in my text book.
At first the accusation offended me. Of course I'm not selfish with God's love! I have taught Sunday school and Vacation Bible School. I have gone on annual mission trips to teach others about Jesus. Surely I am not guilty of keeping God's love centered on myself. However, as I let go my inner struggle, I realized some of the truths of this chapter. I serve on a mission trip once a year. What do I do the rest of the year? I work, go to school, serve my church. That's about it. I teach Sunday school in my church, but do I teach others that are not in the church?
I had to confess that to some extent I do keep Christ to myself. I do not often evangelize in my every day life. I am being selfish. But John 3:16 does not say that God so love you, it says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 NKJV emphasis mine)
Are we living up to that scripture by sharing his love with the rest of the world or are we keeping it to ourselves? I can see that in my life it is time for a change.
Excellent thought to plant in my head this Monday morning. I have to admit that I don't step out of my own zone when it comes to helping others. When friends come to me with a burden, I try to help them through, but the whole way I'm stumbling right alongside him or her because I am not well practiced in giving to those who need more than I. I can say that when I pray, I tend to thank God for what I have, and then I proceed to ask God to support the friends of mine with needs, like Stewart, Pastor Jeremy after he twisted up his ankle yesterday, Union Grove for the struggles they're going through right now, Pastor Kevin, Jennifer. I am doing all right. I don't need a blessing to do even better. There are a lot of people, like Pastor Jeremy said yesterday, who would love to be where I am right now. If I get to where I want to be, that's great, but I always put in perspective that I have friends who have it a lot tougher than I have. That's why I don't say a lot about the fact that I'm in my mid-40s and haven't made a management position in my career by now. I mentioned yesterday that for the first time in my career, my manager is younger than I am, and it says something, but I am not going to beat myself up about it, nor am I going to get angry with God. If it's meant to be, it will happen. If it's not meant to be, well, I can be blessed that I got as far as I did at this point. Considering where I came from, I defied the odds just to get here.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts. Prayer is the beginning of service, in my experience. You start with a burden for that person and pray daily for them. I find that as I pray daily, God begins to shape a plan, an action, or just a thought about how I can help more. You are doing some of what God wants you to do by helping others find work. You are in an excellent position to help them.
ReplyDeleteBut we can all be doing more. Maybe we need to find a time to volunteer at the Durham Rescue Mission at some point. That might give us a unique look into what kind of needs are out there in Durham that we can fill.
Keep praying and God bless.