Subtle, you probably missed it.
All that was given was a nameless quote. Without attributing it to someone I'm already skeptical. When it talks about Jesus, but it's not scripture, my skepticism grows strength.
A knee jerk reaction. Formed almost before I am done reading.
"Can't jump to conclusions, Darryl" I tell myself, "Give it some thought. Reflect on why this makes you uncomfortable, you know this, time honored tradition, you do it with everything."
And for sure I really do. Anal about it. OCD even. I filter everyone's words. Compare them to truth. Especially words with no author.
"You might be in the wrong. Maybe you are reacting negatively because you know this is a weakness of yours."
My thoughts, I know, are my weak side, trying to incite doubt and fear.
Calmly, I reflect on. Think. Ponder. Delve.
Pray.
"What does this hold for me, God?" "Why do I react to this?"
"If we truly believe in the saving power of
the Gospel, and the gift of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection,
why aren't we going out of our way every minute of every day to show
people what they're missing? Why aren't we getting on our knees and
begging them to put their faith and life in Christ's hands before it's
too late? If we truly believe there's impending doom at the end of their
roads if they don't have Christ, why aren't we doing everything we can
to change the path their on?"
My reflections start out primitively. I pick on the poor and incorrect grammar. Pointless, but I did it. Sorry. I get distracted.
Things press on and i notice this person is frustrated with other Christians. Classic "New Guy" stuff. The whole, "Why am I the only one that gets it?" routine. Slow down buddy. I am willing to cede that God has given you gifts others do not have, in this case a passion for evangelism is overwhelmingly obvious, but it takes many different parts to make up the body. The hands don't do the same work as the feet.
"Childish, short sighted..." I think to myself. "This dude just needs time, then he'll get it, then he'll be as cool as m..." Naturally, I am immediately overcome with remorse for such thoughts. "Scratch that, my bad, but seriously dude, not everyone is cut out for evangelism."
Though this is more intelligent thinking than my picky grammar, it still isn't satisfying me. This quote bothers me. The more i think about it, the more i want to get to the bottom of my reaction. Straight gut at this point. Still no solid logic or scripture to point at why I should be so stirred.
Then it hit me.
So simple.
And isn't that how it goes? It's always the simple things, the easy truths, the first ones you learn, when striving for a goal, they can be forgotten. Overlooked. Transparent.
The theme of this quote shouts only one thing at me. Maybe it is an excerpt from a larger passage or speech. Maybe this quote alone isn't providing the whole concept. Maybe this. Maybe that. Lots of unknowns. I considered them. But all i have is this quote and all I can speak about is the words given here, and in deed I am not comforted.
Fear.
The theme... is fear.
Laced with it, through and through. Soaked. Saturated. So plain to me upon realization as I drive my work truck around that I laugh that I didn't notice it earlier.
So simple.
Subtle.
You probably missed it.
Why is that important? We all have fears after all. So this dude is afraid, afraid that we as a church (in the global sense) aren't doing enough to reach out to non-believers. Understood. Common. Probably true.
Fear is one of my favorite topics to think about. I can't recall a time in life when I haven't experienced it. There's always something to be afraid of:
Death.
Dismemberment.
Cooties.
Our loved ones being tortured for all eternity...
Okay, let's stop there.
Fear is normal yes, but then there is the other half of it: the way we react to fear. This is the kicker. This, for sure, is the only part you have control over. We are all afraid of something. Multiple things. And in all cases, if not dealt with properly, these fears will drive us to either do something we shouldn't, or not do something we should. It can have an affect on our actions. Controlling, preventing, subduing, gnawing... fear. Stupid, silly fear.
I am reminded of a different quote of sorts. A prayer. One that I will share as a bit of a counter point to our mystery guests spout of emotion. The prayer has been said by countless of people, addicts mostly, who need constant reminder of exactly what is stated here:
"God, Give us the grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed, Courage
to change the things which should be changed,
And the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
In my own previous quiet times, and/or reflections, I have taken the time to decide that there are two ways to respond when confronted with the unknown. A spectrum of possibility, with fear on one end, and faith on the other. Any situation involving things that are hidden, and confidence in your current knowledge, abilities, talents or self, are undermined; you will react with either fear, or faith, or some variation in between.
Fear, to me, is the direct opposite of faith. The bible telling us repeatedly not to fear, but trust in the Lord. Trust in something you havent seen, but know is there only by footprint.
Given this "quotee's" zeal for Jesus, I will assume he has a certain amount of faith. The issue, I finally realized, and also the source of my discomfort with his words, is that he is forgetting who is in control.
There are things we can change.
There are things we cannot.
I was saved by God. Anyone else that has been saved has the same story. Nobody can claim they were saved by Elvis. President Roosevelt didn't save anyone. Neither did his teddy bear.
Your pastor didn't save you. Or your friends.
You were chosen. By the big guy. The one true God.
The I Am.
The person between the parenthesis is asking me why the possibility of my loved ones being tortured for all eternity doesn't motivate me to speak out about Jesus. To be honest, it kind of does. It does. I'm human. I don't want to see them perish. I don't want to see anyone perish really. Nobody. Not even murderers or sex offenders.
This life is tough. We all make bad decisions. End up in addictions. Shit our pants and cry. Sometimes it's visible. Sometimes its not. But we all go through it.
It's tough to think about why He would allow us the freedom to reject Him and thus perish. We all have that choice. He gave it to us. Somewhere in the freedom of this life lies the true meaning of His love. He is love. And he must be given and accepted freely. You cannot force someone to love. Cannot coerce someone to understand that you love them. Silly to try.
Bringing me back to the point... you cannot beg someone to love, either.
If I were to plead with a person for Jesus, what kind of message does that send? On my knees, crying, in front of the friend who is now confused. "If this is a person of faith, what are they so afraid of? Why are they so insecure?" People may not know it, but they'll see this. Maybe they can't put it into words, but they will feel it. Your fear.
Unfortunately for everyone, faith is quiet, and fear is loud.
And I suppose the take-away from this whole thing is that I refuse to be motivated by fear. The author of this random quote, whomever you may be, I hope you realize that the Lord our God has taken away all reason to fear, making all of our fears, irrational. If he has chosen to allow some of our brothers to perish, I must trust in his wisdom.
In the mean time, yes. We need to do everything we can to make the God of the universe known. Everything within reason. Everything my faith will allow.
This excludes fear.
I will share the good news as I am called to do so. As it is exactly that; Good news. In the times I feel God moving through me, I won't back down from opportunities. Respond in faith, not fear. But I will also bring my wisdom and a discerning heart. I will recognize the things I have control over, and the things I do not.
I will listen first. Seek only to show love. Keep my friends at all costs and pray that my words and actions are effective if nothing else.
I will not scatter the seeds I have been trusted with on infertile soil, but rather plant them carefully where they have a chance of blossom and fruit.
But above all... I will NOT be motivated by fear.
Faith will spread the news... fear will destroy it.
-"Fear is the mind killer." -Dune
A knee jerk reaction. Formed almost before I am done reading.
"Can't jump to conclusions, Darryl" I tell myself, "Give it some thought. Reflect on why this makes you uncomfortable, you know this, time honored tradition, you do it with everything."
And for sure I really do. Anal about it. OCD even. I filter everyone's words. Compare them to truth. Especially words with no author.
"You might be in the wrong. Maybe you are reacting negatively because you know this is a weakness of yours."
My thoughts, I know, are my weak side, trying to incite doubt and fear.
Calmly, I reflect on. Think. Ponder. Delve.
Pray.
"What does this hold for me, God?" "Why do I react to this?"
"If we truly believe in the saving power of
the Gospel, and the gift of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection,
why aren't we going out of our way every minute of every day to show
people what they're missing? Why aren't we getting on our knees and
begging them to put their faith and life in Christ's hands before it's
too late? If we truly believe there's impending doom at the end of their
roads if they don't have Christ, why aren't we doing everything we can
to change the path their on?"
My reflections start out primitively. I pick on the poor and incorrect grammar. Pointless, but I did it. Sorry. I get distracted.
Things press on and i notice this person is frustrated with other Christians. Classic "New Guy" stuff. The whole, "Why am I the only one that gets it?" routine. Slow down buddy. I am willing to cede that God has given you gifts others do not have, in this case a passion for evangelism is overwhelmingly obvious, but it takes many different parts to make up the body. The hands don't do the same work as the feet.
"Childish, short sighted..." I think to myself. "This dude just needs time, then he'll get it, then he'll be as cool as m..." Naturally, I am immediately overcome with remorse for such thoughts. "Scratch that, my bad, but seriously dude, not everyone is cut out for evangelism."
Though this is more intelligent thinking than my picky grammar, it still isn't satisfying me. This quote bothers me. The more i think about it, the more i want to get to the bottom of my reaction. Straight gut at this point. Still no solid logic or scripture to point at why I should be so stirred.
Then it hit me.
So simple.
And isn't that how it goes? It's always the simple things, the easy truths, the first ones you learn, when striving for a goal, they can be forgotten. Overlooked. Transparent.
The theme of this quote shouts only one thing at me. Maybe it is an excerpt from a larger passage or speech. Maybe this quote alone isn't providing the whole concept. Maybe this. Maybe that. Lots of unknowns. I considered them. But all i have is this quote and all I can speak about is the words given here, and in deed I am not comforted.
Fear.
The theme... is fear.
Laced with it, through and through. Soaked. Saturated. So plain to me upon realization as I drive my work truck around that I laugh that I didn't notice it earlier.
So simple.
Subtle.
You probably missed it.
Why is that important? We all have fears after all. So this dude is afraid, afraid that we as a church (in the global sense) aren't doing enough to reach out to non-believers. Understood. Common. Probably true.
Fear is one of my favorite topics to think about. I can't recall a time in life when I haven't experienced it. There's always something to be afraid of:
Death.
Dismemberment.
Cooties.
Our loved ones being tortured for all eternity...
Okay, let's stop there.
Fear is normal yes, but then there is the other half of it: the way we react to fear. This is the kicker. This, for sure, is the only part you have control over. We are all afraid of something. Multiple things. And in all cases, if not dealt with properly, these fears will drive us to either do something we shouldn't, or not do something we should. It can have an affect on our actions. Controlling, preventing, subduing, gnawing... fear. Stupid, silly fear.
I am reminded of a different quote of sorts. A prayer. One that I will share as a bit of a counter point to our mystery guests spout of emotion. The prayer has been said by countless of people, addicts mostly, who need constant reminder of exactly what is stated here:
"God, Give us the grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed, Courage
to change the things which should be changed,
And the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
In my own previous quiet times, and/or reflections, I have taken the time to decide that there are two ways to respond when confronted with the unknown. A spectrum of possibility, with fear on one end, and faith on the other. Any situation involving things that are hidden, and confidence in your current knowledge, abilities, talents or self, are undermined; you will react with either fear, or faith, or some variation in between.
Fear, to me, is the direct opposite of faith. The bible telling us repeatedly not to fear, but trust in the Lord. Trust in something you havent seen, but know is there only by footprint.
Given this "quotee's" zeal for Jesus, I will assume he has a certain amount of faith. The issue, I finally realized, and also the source of my discomfort with his words, is that he is forgetting who is in control.
There are things we can change.
There are things we cannot.
I was saved by God. Anyone else that has been saved has the same story. Nobody can claim they were saved by Elvis. President Roosevelt didn't save anyone. Neither did his teddy bear.
Your pastor didn't save you. Or your friends.
You were chosen. By the big guy. The one true God.
The I Am.
The person between the parenthesis is asking me why the possibility of my loved ones being tortured for all eternity doesn't motivate me to speak out about Jesus. To be honest, it kind of does. It does. I'm human. I don't want to see them perish. I don't want to see anyone perish really. Nobody. Not even murderers or sex offenders.
This life is tough. We all make bad decisions. End up in addictions. Shit our pants and cry. Sometimes it's visible. Sometimes its not. But we all go through it.
It's tough to think about why He would allow us the freedom to reject Him and thus perish. We all have that choice. He gave it to us. Somewhere in the freedom of this life lies the true meaning of His love. He is love. And he must be given and accepted freely. You cannot force someone to love. Cannot coerce someone to understand that you love them. Silly to try.
Bringing me back to the point... you cannot beg someone to love, either.
If I were to plead with a person for Jesus, what kind of message does that send? On my knees, crying, in front of the friend who is now confused. "If this is a person of faith, what are they so afraid of? Why are they so insecure?" People may not know it, but they'll see this. Maybe they can't put it into words, but they will feel it. Your fear.
Unfortunately for everyone, faith is quiet, and fear is loud.
And I suppose the take-away from this whole thing is that I refuse to be motivated by fear. The author of this random quote, whomever you may be, I hope you realize that the Lord our God has taken away all reason to fear, making all of our fears, irrational. If he has chosen to allow some of our brothers to perish, I must trust in his wisdom.
In the mean time, yes. We need to do everything we can to make the God of the universe known. Everything within reason. Everything my faith will allow.
This excludes fear.
I will share the good news as I am called to do so. As it is exactly that; Good news. In the times I feel God moving through me, I won't back down from opportunities. Respond in faith, not fear. But I will also bring my wisdom and a discerning heart. I will recognize the things I have control over, and the things I do not.
I will listen first. Seek only to show love. Keep my friends at all costs and pray that my words and actions are effective if nothing else.
I will not scatter the seeds I have been trusted with on infertile soil, but rather plant them carefully where they have a chance of blossom and fruit.
But above all... I will NOT be motivated by fear.
Faith will spread the news... fear will destroy it.
-"Fear is the mind killer." -Dune