Casual Christianity

This article on Casual Christianity in The Washington Post is interesting. I relate to the “joyful minority” thought near the end.

Life or Death

A life focused on sin, especially other people’s, is a life eclipsed by death. A life focused on love, especially to those that are different, is a life lived to its fullest.

Characters

All the heroes in the Bible were characters. That’s not to say they weren’t real but that they didn’t fit in, they were different. They didn’t fall in with the norms of society and religion and the results of their lives were supernatural. The one thing they all had in common was having heard from God and eventually mustering the courage to step out and do what He said. Most of these characters’s weirdness had its roots in an intimate, one of a kind relationship with God.

This unique relationship is available to all of us today; in fact God wants nothing more. Why then is so much of today’s Christianity about conformity and imitation? Why are our churches gathering places for those that are just like us? Why have the outliers, those with legitimate questions been marginalized? How has “my way or the highway” become so prevalent?

God’s doing something new and it doesn’t look or operate the way it always has. He’s moving in the lives of people that have been rejected by religion and conventionality and drawing close those that will reach out and truly love those that are different. He’s using people that don’t have all the answers but are not afraid of the questions. There’s an uprising underway, seek Him with all your heart to see what your distinctive role will be.

Sameness

God’s highest hope for each of us is to find and stay in an intimate, unique, and completely fulfilling relationship with Him. It’s not His idea for us to walk the path of everyone else. Different is good.

The world is countering God’s plan with sameness. We’re becoming franchise humanity with no tolerance for anyone unlike ourselves and will soon be herded into one of only two crowds; it’ll be them and us. Much of the church today is playing right along with this plan.

Our answer has to be personal. Our intimacy with the Lord will result in an outpouring of love on individuals, persons that are different than we are and our goal can’t be to make them just like us.

Your best and your same (vs. your different and your truth)

Couldn’t help but reblog this from sethgodin.com

“If someone wants your very best version, that probably means that they’re going to get the same version that you’ve done before, the same as the best version you produced a week ago. If you want the best, it also means that you’re asking someone to repeat what’s come before.

On the other hand, if they want you, right here and right now, it won’t be perfect. It can’t be. It will merely be different and real and in the moment.
The opportunity in any given moment is to share your truth, to light a spark and to leap. But you can’t do that at the same time you’re being perfect.

There is no best jazz performance. That’s why it’s interesting.”

He Who Believes?

In the verse from yesterday’s post Jesus had some amazing promises for those that believe in Him. Did believe mean something different than it does today?

Shine

Your life is brilliant; shining in places you are completely unaware. The people you so beautifully care for pass your love along to others you don’t even know. Your selflessness is renowned and speaks to the world around that Jesus is real, that you know Him and that they can too. You welcome those that are unwelcome, you love the unloved and you are not afraid of those different than you or of their problems. Thank you! It’s an honor to call you dear friend.

Sacrifice is Never Easy

Sometimes we get giving and sacrifice confused. Sacrifice always costs a lot, giving can but they aren’t necessarily the same thing.

The Power of a Smile

If you’ve visited here regularly you’ve probably come across something I’ve written about smiling. Yesterday I had the opportunity to test out my belief in the power of a smile. We were around a ton of people from every walk in life and from all over the world. We must have heard twenty different languages. Never was a smile not returned and in many cases you could see a drastic change in countenance as returning a smile seemed to release the concern of the moment. I’m going to try it again today.

Weakness

Scripture says that God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. Why then are we so afraid of our weaknesses? Why is it so easy to find and point out the weaknesses of those around us in order to feign might? If we will grasp the truth of God’s unique love for us, how because it is completely different from His love for anyone else we can put aside our insecurities and stop trying to elevate ourselves by comparison to others. If we could see ourselves as well as others, the way God sees us, what a wonderful world it would be.