I’m a fairly apolitical person. I know the necessity of government and the importance of personal involvement in the political process. The difficulty I encounter is multi-faceted:
So, I continue to work and to fight and to pray that God would grow within me a passion for the people of this city that mirrors His own. Nobody loves more than He does. Nobody can outdo Him for His willingness to fight for the disenfranchised and the hurting. My King, Jesus Christ, lived His passion among us by spending time with and loving the criminal, the poor, the beggars, and the disenfranchised without ignoring the rest. He eschewed comfort so that He could more effectively live among those who needed Him the most. Yes, the culture is different and, no, Jesus did not advocate an ascetic or Franciscan existence – but He did call me to love as He loves while preaching the Good News: Jesus came to take those who are dead in their sin and make them alive in Him by revealing the Truth – that we were made for God’s glory and our greatest joy is knowing and serving Him, but we desperately need to be reconciled by Christ before that is even possible. One beautiful part of serving God is that we also have the great privilege of being useful here on earth by sharing His love with others and serving Him by serving all with passion and humility.
I haven’t the foggiest idea how to do this, but I know that I must… so forward I strive, trusting in His grace and power to pave and light the way. May I be a blessing to all those who know me – not for my fame, but for His.
*This can freak some people out as it sounds like I’m listening to some disembodied imaginary friend who could lead me to perform some act of violence for the sake of “god” – well, I can only say to those folk… you obviously don’t know me and you most certainly don’t know of the God of Whom I speak. He doesn’t need my help to exercise wrath; and, in fact, He calls me to be an instrument of His grace, not His sword.
Hopefully, you see in these writings a man who is staying The Course and pursuing The Path amidst the pitfalls and selfish ways of being a son of Adam. I pray earnestly that my writing would encourage some of you by showing you that this journey - though arduous and sometimes tragic - is a journey of great satisfaction. A satisfaction greater than our greatest imaginings. The trials and refining fire of tribulation are to be recognized as a small shadow of the suffering of our Savior so that we can rejoice, as Peter and the disciples did, to be counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the Name.
Stephanie
January 25th, 2010 at 7:36 am
I agree with nearly everything you wrote–except that I feel there are many who are non-polarized. If you watch the media, then you will feel unrepresented, but it is the media working to fuel an interest in their direction and they think it requires extremes to keep people interested.
When I was in Chicago, the liberals I met there were refreshed to meet a fundamental Christian in me—shockingly, someone they LIKED. I was told several times, OH I never met someone like you. Meaning, a Bible-believing Christian who spoke coherently about deep issues and who loved and cared for the poor. But they were never TRYING to meet Christians because they THOUGHT that everything was polarized. When we discussed things, they even sided with me on some issues (Not gay marriage, a very fave pet issue that they preached to each other ad nauseum–every class, every day, every discussion about anything.)
But in real conversation, not everything was polarized. It was wonderful for me, too. But sometimes, they really patronized the poor. For example, they insisted that the poor need public education because poor mothers do not know how to raise their children. As someone who served low-income teen mothers….I found them diligent and striving to improve on every level. No, it doesn’t look like middle class or upper class motherhood, but there is a lack of access to some parts of middle class culture—and children don’t need that anyway!
Blessings on the Saints and the Sinners. May we all see the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ!