Promote Love..or Hatred?

I continue working on re-reading "No Perfect People Allowed". One of the statements Burke makes drives to the very core of what spiritual seekers want to know: do we promote hatred, or do we promote love?

The essence of this question can be very challenging for most of us christians (yes, I mean me, too). It's easy to look down at (judge) someone whose lives are very different from our own.

The people that we are looking to invite to church may party and drink, have same sex partners/preferences, or have followed different religions/philosophies. And their immediate expectation is that we as christians are going to judge them & not want to have anything to do with them.

To be fair, unfortunately, more often than not they are right. I know I for one have been guilty of passing judgement based on how someone is dressed or talks or acts. As human beings, we all have done this, & will do it again. But here's the rub; if I am going to do the work that God has told me I should be doing, then it is an absolute must for me to do everything I can to overcome my sinful ways of judging others.

This is the only possible way for me to be open, loving & to reach out to others. To seek intentional relationships, just like Jesus did. No, that doesn't mean compromising my values or watering down Jesus' message. What it does mean is, for me to at some point have the opportunity to share this message of loving each other unconditionally, is only possible by first letting others see me living it.

I would love to be able to tell you that I am successful doing this all the time. Not so. I blow it more than I get it right. But, sometimes I get it right. Those are the times that make all the other times of fumbling and bumbling worth while. Those are the times I "get it".

Man, that's what really fires me up as we do the work to plant a new church and share in reaching out to those in the community... more and more experiences of "getting it"

Authenticity

I am re-reading the book by John Burke called "No Perfect People Allowed". At the moment it is talking about authenticity and being a christian. Specifically, that authenticity starts with me.

This is something that lately has been on my heart and mind as we do the work in preparing to plant a new church. A big reason for being involved in the church plant is the deeply felt need to reach out to others. But in working on this, God has been working on me, again!

I can't speak for others, but for myself, this being authentic seems to be less about "acting" like a christian and more about "being" myself (which hopefully comes out as being a christian, as best I can).

You see, like everyone else, I struggle with life too. Just because I became a christian (& even going into ministry) doesn't make me any different than you or anyone else; stuff happens. I'm not any better or have it any easier. And this is where it can get confusing. Believe me, it has confused me quite a bit. I always thought that if I was a good person (like being a christian) that meant that life was supposed to be all good, that I was headed up and not down when it is all over.

Now for the real kicker.... being authentic is tough! It is so much easier to pretend to be something or someone that I am not, than it is to consistently be really me.

So for now, I continue to read, to think, & to do the work I feel like I am being called to... reaching out to others like myself who need help trying to figure this stuff out..

hmm, wonder what revelations might be ahead as I continue to read this book.....