Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s)
We came out of the coffee house last night refreshed and encouraged and pumped full of wonderful confections. 🙂 Life was good, the people were friendly, we had just shared some really great stuff about the Kingdom and our God that hopefully encouraged everyone to enjoy life with Him even more.
I was loading our van and a couple yards over I saw red and blue lights flashing on the side of a house, and my christian fun-night became almost empty.
I don’t mean to say that it’s not good to encourage each other… I really think we need to do that, and spend lots of time together loving each other and encouraging each other… we are the body of Christ… and we need to take care of our body.
But when I saw those lights, I immediately thought… it’s not about a night of fun in the basement of a church… it’s about knowing who those people are who are hurting, who are trapped, who need to be loved and shown the love they have from their Father…
We know a guy who just a few years ago had many visits from the police to his house. He has had a history with alcohol and the many negative things that it makes you do. But today he is one of the coolest guys I know. He is real, transparent, trying to figure out what God wants for him and his family, and just growing more and more like Jesus all the time.
And we are somehow responsible for that!
That is the crazy part right there. They have (he and his wife) attributed their changed lives to us before, and it is actually pretty funny, cause we didn’t do anything! We didn’t sit down and sing them a song, we didn’t preach them a sermon, we didn’t invite them to church (well, not much at least…) we didn’t go through the four spiritual laws with them…
I think we just loved them.
And isn’t that what it’s really about? What did Jesus do more? We read about days where he healed people all day long. He spent lots of time just taking care of people’s physical and emotional needs. He just loved them… because he did.
I love that I get to sing to a room of Christians who can be encouraged and reminded that Jesus loves them so completely that they can be free to live life letting that love overflow to everyone around them.
But I also know that sometimes we catch it all before it overflows.
We need to be where we are. We need to be known in the community. We need to know and be known by our neighbors. By the people we work with. We need to have eyes open to whom God has placed in our immediate proximity and how we can share life with them.
So, when the police lights are flashing on the side of their house, we can help put pieces back together. Not as the judge, but as someone who understands and humbly loves because we have first been loved.
Just being available to love… seems like a more effective way to be a part of the Kingdom.
So make some love connections out there, people! (And then love the folks He connects you with) 🙂