I've had this in my head to do for some time, but now the time has come to put it on paper (or computer). I've not been a reader of many devotion books, but I love reading the titles. Actually I read the titles to a lot of books, but not many entice me to read them that are Christian in nature. So why is that? What is wrong with me?
I found myself a few years ago sorting people into "church people" and the rest of us. Yes, it's wrong, but I did it anyway. I don't know that I can tell you what a "church people" is, but overall they scare me. The best guess is that they are the ones that you want to ask "so what do you do to sin?" Note, these are not necessarily the ones that go to church and you see Saturday night at places neither of you should be, but the ones that are just so perfect. The ones that make me nervous, because I'll never be that person.
So this is for those of us that are failures at being "church people." My goal in doing this is not to be a great teacher, I'm not. It's to see if there are others that are like me, struggling to live the gospel. My vision of this is to find scriptures that have meaning to me, share what thoughts they invoke with you. I love feedback. I'll have a few different thoughts than you, and hopefully we will al grow in the Lord. If nothing else, maybe I'll learn there are more like me than I thought. Maybe even a few people that I think are church people will be more like me than I knew.
So here goes:
Each week in our church we recite a confession. We don't confess our individual sins to each other, this is a group thing. And each week I'm convicted about the same thing: I don't love my neighbor as myself. Here is the scripture: Matthew 22:37-40 (New International Version)
37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
So what does this mean to me? There are many Bible studies done on this I'm sure but I've taken it to work and trying to walk this one out. First of all it's the co-worker that stresses me. One was a charge nurse that for some reason I disliked. One night I became convicted that my whole attitude towards her was not Christ like. So I began to greet her by name, ask her how she was, in general just being nicer. She's still not my favorite charge nurse, but overall we get along. More than anything I don't want to sully the name of the Lord.
Another thing is how to treat those of other belief systems. In the last few weeks I've had several dealings with Muslim families. I feel very honored that I've been able to serve them with love and kindness. The last couple I was able to anticipate some needs so that they could do their prayers while they waited on the child;s treatment to be completed. It shocked the father that I knew what they would need. My goal in this is again, to honor Jesus by my kindness to them.
Sounds great so far, but I struggle with those that are abusing the system, those that have abused their children, and those that in my words "just need a good smacking." How do I treat them? I don't know, well, maybe I haven't walked that one out. I try so hard to balance what is right, a need for justice, to know individually who needs assistance and who needs to learn to care for themselves. I see many poor people - people that are victims of our economy. But I also see those that have become enslaved to a system that rewards you for not trying. And I can't fix that in one visit, heck, in twenty visits. I need discernment to know when to call attention to overuse of resources and when it's time to give resources. How to show compassion to people that are ashamed of their situation and need resources. And how to comfort the weary, the weak, and those in need.
I'm in a position to see many people like this, but what about the bookkeeper or the secretary? Who is your neighbor? What about the person who cleans your desk, the waiter when you get lunch, or the UPS guy? Each of these is looking for a kind word, someone that notices they are there. I always think of "the least of these..." Some days I'm the least, some days you are the least, and some days you get to be the one that was kind to the least.
