(no subject)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
The speaker at SOMA this past weekend had such a good message, that I felt the need to share it, as much as I can do justice to. His story was an interesting one. He and his wife had been living a normal life, what you would expect I suppose. But they were reading their Bible and noticed that in the stories the rich and the poor bumping into each other was simply a way of life. They noted that this interaction is different now. If we don't want to see the poor, we probably don't have to. Just don't drive through where they live, and you can remain pleasantly oblivious to the fact they do actually exist. Just drive on the interstates, and avoid the inner city. Our speaker and his wife decided that the only way to understand the poor's situation was to go live near them, and so they did. Eight years later, he now is the head of CHAT here in Richmond.
He spoke that night at SOMA on the verse I pasted above, that mentions jars of clay. It's a well-known verse, and there's even a band named after it. He then went on to explain that many probably have a misconception about what exactly this verse tells us. When we think of jars of clay, we probably think of pottery of today, that is really pretty, and goes on the shelf. But remember when this verse was written. Back then, jars of clay were your everyday coffee cup. He pointed out a paper cup he had as an example. If we compare ourselves to that cup, we might still try to pretty it up. We can have cool labels, logos, or handy wraparound pieces that keep our hands from getting too hot. But when it gets right down to it, we're just a cup. At the end of the day, the cup doesn't go up on the shelf, it gets tossed in the bin. What's really important is what's inside the cup. And the more fancy the cup, the harder it is to see what is inside.
He explained that a lot of times in life we can get beaten up by the world, and maybe our cup gets a little torn. Our first reaction is to try and fix the cup, and patch it back up. But it's when we get those wounds that what is inside the cup starts to be seen, and maybe even leaks out a little.
As he and his wife lived their lives and invited people into their home, he would have people eventually tell him that they weren't all that dissimilar. He said the wrong things sometimes, he was rude, he messed up. Your first reaction to hearing these kind of compliments is to try and fix the cup. But people would then explain that because they saw that he was just like them, they then had a better understanding of the fact that there was something else inside of him. Despite being just like them, he still got up everyday and did the same things, trying to help people, even though it didn't always work, or didn't pan out. Because his coffee cup wasn't pristine and perfect, they could see that there was something different, something worth having inside.
I really appreciated his speaking at SOMA, and I feel like I didn't even do his message justice in my recap. But it is definitely something to think about!
The speaker at SOMA this past weekend had such a good message, that I felt the need to share it, as much as I can do justice to. His story was an interesting one. He and his wife had been living a normal life, what you would expect I suppose. But they were reading their Bible and noticed that in the stories the rich and the poor bumping into each other was simply a way of life. They noted that this interaction is different now. If we don't want to see the poor, we probably don't have to. Just don't drive through where they live, and you can remain pleasantly oblivious to the fact they do actually exist. Just drive on the interstates, and avoid the inner city. Our speaker and his wife decided that the only way to understand the poor's situation was to go live near them, and so they did. Eight years later, he now is the head of CHAT here in Richmond.
He spoke that night at SOMA on the verse I pasted above, that mentions jars of clay. It's a well-known verse, and there's even a band named after it. He then went on to explain that many probably have a misconception about what exactly this verse tells us. When we think of jars of clay, we probably think of pottery of today, that is really pretty, and goes on the shelf. But remember when this verse was written. Back then, jars of clay were your everyday coffee cup. He pointed out a paper cup he had as an example. If we compare ourselves to that cup, we might still try to pretty it up. We can have cool labels, logos, or handy wraparound pieces that keep our hands from getting too hot. But when it gets right down to it, we're just a cup. At the end of the day, the cup doesn't go up on the shelf, it gets tossed in the bin. What's really important is what's inside the cup. And the more fancy the cup, the harder it is to see what is inside.
He explained that a lot of times in life we can get beaten up by the world, and maybe our cup gets a little torn. Our first reaction is to try and fix the cup, and patch it back up. But it's when we get those wounds that what is inside the cup starts to be seen, and maybe even leaks out a little.
As he and his wife lived their lives and invited people into their home, he would have people eventually tell him that they weren't all that dissimilar. He said the wrong things sometimes, he was rude, he messed up. Your first reaction to hearing these kind of compliments is to try and fix the cup. But people would then explain that because they saw that he was just like them, they then had a better understanding of the fact that there was something else inside of him. Despite being just like them, he still got up everyday and did the same things, trying to help people, even though it didn't always work, or didn't pan out. Because his coffee cup wasn't pristine and perfect, they could see that there was something different, something worth having inside.
I really appreciated his speaking at SOMA, and I feel like I didn't even do his message justice in my recap. But it is definitely something to think about!