Megan

Today my heart was moved.  We’re trying to get this initiative off of the ground where we’re filming stories of people in low-income housing, hoping to tell these stories to help motivate other churches to enter into relationship with the neighborhood. 

The director of the neighborhood we're building a relationship with encouraged a young girl to ask her moms if they would be interested in sharing their story.  In explaining to this young girl, whom we’ll call Megan, that we are a church and we just want to help people in the neighborhood.  The 12 year old girl hesitated.   They removed themselves from our presence.  They came back and Megan stammered trying to ask a question, “I don’t know how to ask this.”   I tried to assure her to just get out there and I’ll do my best to answer her question.

“Do you help even if the people are gay or lesbian?”

I responded with the hope of assuring a visible doubt, “Yes, it does not matter what your sexual orientation or preference is, we want to help”. 

Megan seemed assured, said “Ok, thanks.”, made eye contact with her friend the neighborhood director, a smile came across her face, and she was off.  The director then shared with me that she had been to five churches over the last year and had left because her moms were in a lesbian relationship. 

Where is there room for people who don’t agree with us in our church?  Do they have to have their life in order before they come?  Or can we only accept those whose sin we can be comfortable with?  

Are we OK with the glutton, but ostracize the homosexual?  Are we OK with the one that is engaged in a premarital sexual relationship, but a same sex attracted individual can not be in community to know what a Christ centered loving community looks like? Have we forgotten that sin comes in all forms, one not more egregious than another in God's eyes?  Have we forgotten that we are to be IN the world, amongst people who we disagree with and are not like us? 

My hope is that Megan and her moms will be able to experience and see in a tangible way, the love of Christ.  That through relationship they may understand the breadth, depth, and height of the love of Christ for them.  That they will have a loving community that will come around them and not abandon them as the Holy Spirit is faithful to convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgement... just as He continues to do the same work in me. 

Prayer: Father, please help your church to love well.  Not holding the sins of others as a personal offense, but rather we might look to be an extension of Your grace in their lives as we ourselves experience Your grace.  Amen.

Who Is My Brother?

Who is my brother?

I’ve wondered this in the past when I would come upon it in my Bible regarding some sort of command or action geared towards my "brother".  Is my "brother" different than my neighbor? Is it literal, figurative, or is there a secret meaning?  Don't judge me, you've thought that too, haven't you? 

Looking at the current political and social climate in my country, I don't even think many Christians understand or know who their "brother" is.   When groups disagree ideologically, they don't tend to treat each other nicely, let alone even with civility.  

Many times, consciously or even subconsciously, I’ve always considered my "brother" as Christians as I myself am a Christian.

Upon further reflection and discovery, and maybe now with even the greatest of conviction, my brother has to mean every human being. 

From a Biblical Christian worldview, we (every single human being on planet Earth) are all literally sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.

We are all related, made in the image of God. 

What now becomes the global realization that we are all family?  

Yes, there are great passages in Holy scripture that speak to the poor, hungry, homeless, and those without to whom Jesus identifies with (“the least of these”).

But that person that makes our blood boil or we think they are stupid, does it change our interaction and feelings towards them if we take into consideration that they are our brother/sister? 

The LGBTQ community, the politician, the social justice advocate, the dead-beat dad, the ignorant person on social media spewing hate and division, or the terrorist who wants to destroy you, how does your heart change knowing they are your brother/sister?  Shouldn’t it?  Shouldn’t it at least change your prayer life for them… you do pray for your family, don’t you? 

You may not run out to embrace the terrorist (except to knock them out and subdue them), but shouldn’t our hearts be moved for them as our brother/sister? 

That’s the mandate Christ gave us… “Love your neighbor”, “love one another”, “we ought to lay our lives down for the brothers”, “…sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

As we pray in the way that Jesus taught us, “…thy Kingdom, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven…” may we see love abound.