Abraham... & Sarah

It's 1:30am, I have been home for almost a half hour. Just got back from the airport. It was a good cash in of our miles - had a great short trip with the kids! On the plane back I met a dude in a Jazz band named Abraham. For real, his girlfriends name is Sarah! There was another person in my row who teaches English on a military base in Germany. As I was talking to Abraham about Jesus' forgiving for our sin, she chimed in and said that the "born again" Christians need to stop "judging". Haven't you heard that before?

She's right you know. Why is it that Christians are known more for what they are against, than what they are for? I'm not saying we shouldn't preach about sin, I'm just saying that they will know we're for real by our love. Lost people act like... "lost people". We shouldn't be surprised by that. Jesus changes a persons life AFTER they come to Him, not before (that's not good theology). You don't clean a fish before you catch it do you? In the words of Mike Lewis, "It's not our job to judge, it's our job to love".

When lost people run into you, do they want to run away? Are they able to talk to you without getting a judgmental attitude from you (we can do it with our body language without saying a word). Many people are kicking the tires of Christianity, checking it out by checking you out. When lost people observe you talking with them, what kind of picture are you painting about God?

During our conversation, Abraham said something about Jesus. He said that Jesus was compassionate - he's right (Mt. 9:36). Sometimes lost people understand the core of who Jesus is more than we do. How much compassion do you have towards those who are lost?

Just a reminder.

Retarding Christianity

Came across another quote worth sharing this weekend. It came from some dude named Richard. I found it on Mike Lewis' blog, click here to go there. On it are other notable quotes from various people. The last one is from the most famous person in the world. Here's one that stuck out to me...

"Organized Christianity has probably done more to retard the ideals that were its founder's than any other agency in the world."

- Richard Le Gallienne

Don't be like everyone else in the church. Don't do things this way and that just because that's how it's always been done. Seek God's face, ask what He would do, then act accordingly. As one very tall preacher from Atlanta said, "Obey God & leave all the consequences up to Him." When we do things without consulting God, we start the process of making "Christianity" something Jesus never intended it to be.