I grew up in a time when church frequently included special gospel meetings that featured a guest preacher imploring over the course of a week to get right and reap the rewards of heaven or certainly go to hell. Night after night the message and volume would escalate until a satisfactory number had responded to avoid the punishment of hell.
As a result, my upbringing most of my Christian life has been spent figuring out what “get right” means. My relationship with God was shallowly based on a set of rules based more in the tradition of my recent ancestors than the Word and Spirit. It took a couple of family tragedies and a tour to combat for me to reevaluate and search for a deeper foundation [Christ] for my relationship.
The struggles of my God relationship search came flooding back as I read Daniel Pink’s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us in which he presents a compelling case for a deeper method of personal, peer, and subordinate motivation. I was struck with how closely the history of motivation parallels the Bible story and my story.
Have you ever been on the “outside” of things? Remember when certain ones were chosen last to be on teams in their childhood? It was usually the same person all the time. We all want to belong, sometimes desperately. How sad it is for those who want to be on the “inside” and are held on the “outside”. Wouldn’t it be grand if there were a place where who you were didn’t make a bit of difference to those who were there, and there you would be accepted, loved and even adored? There is!
It’s the family of God, a community of believers, who because of what was done for them, would do anything for you. People want to be valued – to know they were here for a reason – that is what fellowship is all about – to bestow honor upon those who expect it the least – a community where one is treated and treats others better than any place on earth.
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” I John 4:11 (NIV).
A Child of the King
By Lou David Allen
I stumbled and fell right down,
Silly me, I hate to be a clown.
I was hurt, I knew, really bad,
They all laughed and I was sad.
Mocking, “ You can stand if you try!”
But, all I could do was sit and cry.
So completely embarrassed by it all,
Why did I have to go and fall?
I hung my head in shame,
And thought, “It’s all me to blame.”
Then I heard someone sweetly say,
“Have you hurt yourself, are you O.K.?”
No, it couldn’t possibly be true!
The most popular girl in my school,
Sitting here, by my side,
Unwounding my broken pride.
Afterwards, all agreed she had done me a kindly thing.
But I think more.
I think they had seen a child of the King.
Every Sunday my family participates in a worship service at our community’s nursing home. On most Sunday’s we shake hands, hug necks, sing for the residents and listen to a message from the Word. On one particular Sunday morning I received so much more.
As I was preparing for the service an older lady wheeled herself towards me by carefully walking her feet in front of her chair. As I approached her with my best Sunday morning “glad to see ya” attitude she grabbed my arm, pulled it to her face and slowly pet me. She pulled me down close to her face and asked, “Is your name Scott?”
“No ma’am, my name is Greg. That’s Scott over there” I replied.
She continued, “This morning I let the cows and the dogs out into the pasture and they are trampling everything down in the field.”
Realizing her consciousness was based in a reality from years past, I mumbled faux words of agreement and encouragement. I was playing along to enhance her reality but beginning to pull away when she grabbed my arm again and said, “Is your name Robert?”
“No ma’am, my name is Greg.”
“Are you my son?”
“No ma’am,” I gulped, realizing engaging in further deception would likely lead to hurt. She continued with a new story about setting a match to the pasture and burning all of the trash, I didn’t catch the details being distracted by the mission of extracting myself from the situation saying something like “Ok, I understand, have a good day” while patting her gently on the back.
As I was walking away she called to me, cupping her hands around her mouth and calling in a loud whisper that came out like a fained yell “Hey, I love you.”
In a moment, my heart was broken.
Throughout the service I fixed my eyes on the precious sister and thought:
- Even when everything else is failing, Love is still present.
- My love had been superficial, based on my comfort and reality – not on hers.
Peter wrote about the love Christ intended for believers, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart” I Peter 1:22 (TNIV). The message is clear, Christians are purified by the blood of Christ and obedient faith in order to love each other so deeply, it never leaves regardless of the condition.
Later in his letter Peter continues, “… all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” I Peter 3:8 (TNIV). Like he was writing these words directly to me I know my love in those moments was neither empathetic (like-minded), sympathetic, compassionate, or humble. Rather is was based on MY feelings, MY reality, and compassion for MY comfort – not humble at all. I suspect most Christians struggle to develop the kind of love Christ commanded when he answered the teacher of the law who asked him about the most important commandment:
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 (TNIV)
Love God (check), love myself (check), love others (well…). Even though her mind was tricking her consciousness, the elder sister taught me two valuable lessons:
- Love deeply to the very end
- Love others as they are, not as I am
Spreading the gospel on Twitter? Use these suggested Christian tweets related to this article:
- Even when everything else is failing, Love is still present http://ow.ly/rjrL
- Love deeply to the very end and love others as THEY are not as I am http://ow.ly/rjrL
- The elder sister cupped her hands and called in a loud whisper like a fained yell “Hey, I love you.” http://ow.ly/rjrL
- … all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble http://ow.ly/rjrL
- Christians are purified by the blood of Christ and our obedient faith in order to love each other deeply http://ow.ly/rjrL
- …you have purified yourselves…so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart http://ow.ly/rjrL
I laugh every time I watch this Pixar short film but it is a great illustration of the unintended consequences that come from the exclusion of people who aren’t exactly like us. God loves ALL people and calls his children to include everyone in the saving gospel of Jesus Christ even if they don’t fit the mold we are used to.
The book of Acts presents a beautiful picture of early Christian believers and their natural desire to be together. The model then was clearly not just a Sunday morning assembly but a model of assembly together, focusing on each others needs and praising God as one.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44-47 NIV)
I attended a small town congregation on Sunday and there was a good 20 feet between groupings of family and friends during worship, not as I imagine when reading Acts. If you are a new Christian, seek out a church family who love one another and worship as one every chance they get. If you are part of a congregation that on Sunday mornings resembles a doctor’s office waiting room during flu season, don’t leave – be the one to bring people together. A healthy Christian community focuses on assembling together not just on the assembly.
