First off, I am not supporting any political campaign. But Senator Obama has been becoming quite popular with his one word catch phrase... "Change". In a real-life application, we don't like to change. You may be swinging on the hinges of "we need to change our economy, military posture and so on..." that is not the change I'm speaking of... I'm talking about a change of heart. I will not throw fiery darts at anyone but myself. I have not been the spitting image of a Christan, but I will say, I'm fairly comfortable in my assumption that you haven't either. For the play of the problem, follow me on this. Many people, me included are very quick to jump up and say how we as the church need to be loving our neighbors and those in our community, yet we sit beside, or across from people in church who's name we don't even know. I am as guilty as charged as they come. Recently on my visit to Alethiea in Richmond, as I was setting up my drum set to assist in the worship part of the service, a young man entered the building. His clothes were worn and stained, he had large dark circles under his eyes, his hair was sort of greasy... He was disheveled to say the least... I instantly assume in my head and make the judgemental statement (to myself, not aloud) "what on earth is that druggie doing at church?" I never gave it much thought beyond that... I played drums and got to sit and start hearing the sermon... although this was not the key verse, something that was said made me think of it...
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ 37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[f] you were doing it to me!
After having this recalled to my memory, I thought, "Wow, how judgemental, how offensive that attitude must have been to Christ?" The fact of the matter is Jesus Christ bled and died for that young man, just as much as he did for me. I am no more loved than him. Now, the verse above doesn't directly relate to my attitude, however it puts in perspective that what we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we are doing it to Christ... I held a view that someone was less worthy than I to be there, strictly based off of appearance. My heart became rather convicted over it and I made an effort to seek out the young man I so harshly pre-judged and introduced myself, I even felt compelled to tell him that I was glad he was there. I have been attending church for 25 years and I think this is a epidemic within churches today... Where is the love of Christ that is supposed to be reflected in us? I can't tell you how many times I have passed by, or even avoided people, because they "didn't meet my standard". who am I to hold such a self-worth that puts people below me? It is something I can trace back from my days in Sunday school, all the way up to adulthood. I'm certain that when I asked Jesus to be a part of my life, he did not ostracize me and say, "yeah Jonathan, you're cool and all, but you're just not the type of person I'd hang out with." I have heard that lame-duck excuse, and used it so many times I don't even wish to think about it. There are people I see sitting in church every Sunday, they are there looking for something, what are we showing them... Ashamedly, there are people there who's name I don't know... and haven't cared to know. From my vantage point on stage every Sunday, I get to view the masses in a more holistic approach, I see my group of friends, my Mom and Nana, Sydney, Pastor Bill, Josh and Jadey... people I love and cherish... but I also see the large majority of that congregation, that I may know if I saw in the store, but know nothing more than where they are on Sunday morning at 0930. What a tragedy this is... So why is change the title of this blog? Our hearts need to change, not by our own doing, but by sincere prayer that Christ will fill us with the desire to love each other and be the reflection of him to a world, nation, town, and community that needs him, just as much as we do. There is a song written by Keilan Creech that also came to mind... It's called "Think something of it" The last verse left me speachless... "there used to be a kid, who didn't have a friend, we thought nothing of it, til' his desk was empty" you can navigate to Keilan's website and hear the song here
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