My World With Light

 

  

I believe that we are facing a time in this world like we have never scene. I think the church; God’s people are being called out to respond in a way that maybe it was able to get around before but now is crucial. Now in order for us to continue to stand and be what God has called us to be we must begin to act in a way that I believe we were created to from the start.

God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.-John 3:17

It’s crazy how many times I have read John 3:16 but never gone beyond it to get the rest of what was being said.

When God sent Jesus to save this world he didn’t send Him to judge it. Jesus never once even tried to judge anyone during His ministry here. I have been thinking so much about how Jesus walked while He was here, how he interacted, what his friendships were like, where He spent His time, and how He dealt with conflict. He had every reason to judge and the authority too but He didn’t! We are here to be His hands and feet and continue His ministry and to be like Him. He came to set the example. When He put on humanity though fully God and fully man He didn’t judge. He left that job to His Father.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.-Matthew 11:28

What if He had said, “those who look right come to me” or “those who don’t stink come to me” or “those without baggage come to me”, or “only those who rarely sin come to me “or “those who have their hair styled in a conservative fashion come to me” or “only those without holes and metal in their faces come to me” or “the people without ink on their skin come to me” or “only people from this denomination or that denomination come to me “or “only those from “this” political party come “or “those who worship with this style of music come to me” “Come to me only if….”

There were never any rules or condition on who could come to Jesus. He simply said… “Come”.

If being a Christian means to be “like Christ” then shouldn’t those of us who call ourselves Christians live with this standard from John 3:17 and Matthew 11:28?

Hello? Is anyone getting this? Let’s be honest, we are all guilty of not walking this out at times. We even judge our brothers and sisters in the church! How about judging other churches or “denominations”? We compete for whose church is better or has more people or better worship or is more “relevant “or whatever! How often have we experienced this within the church? We are dressed in our best “Sunday” garb sitting in our normal seat when in walks the girl with the ripped clothes, pierced face, and purple hair. We automatically think “someone else will talk to her”. No one ends up giving her the time of day and even if one person does she fully understands the stares and snickering coming her way from everyone else. She leaves with the same resentment that a percentage of the world already has toward the church and we slap her on the forehead with the “Judged” stamp on her way out for all to see.

I remember one time I was on my way out of the church to an inner city outreach event the youth group was hosting where we were handing out bibles and lunches to the homeless and addicts and I saw a few of the what I thought to be main youth kids piling into the car with their mom. I ran over to the car and said “see you guys out there!” The mom looked at me and said “my kids are not going”. When I asked why, she told me, and I quote, “I don’t want any of the street people to contaminate my kids.”Holy what?!!!! What would have happened if Jesus had acted that way? What if he had avoided ministering to Mary Magdalen in fear of her “contaminating” Him? What about the beggar?

It is so hard for us to love unconditionally. It’s difficult for us to accept people for who they are where they are at in life. We have to remember though that it’s not our job to change people it is our job to love them and to say “come”. We love and let God take care of the rest. It’s that “agape” love that loves without condition or expectation.

I believe with all that I am that we are in a crucial time of being called to remove the finger of judgment off of people and begin to live out what really matters. I know that as we throw away our “people requirements Checklist” we will see churches overflowing with the hurting and the lost. We will see hearts changed and restored and a love flowing through the church like we have never encountered before. The church will shine brightly just as it was intended to.

May we all be challenged in this. Loving like this is not easy it’s actually the most difficult way to be in community but it is right and it is what Christ has called us to. Just as I have said before, “if you are going to change THE WORLD you must change YOUR WORLD.” Your world is what happens every day. It’s who you touch daily and who you encounter. It’s the girl at the café who’s desperate for love but hides behind small talk and busy work and the man with outward success who is consumed with materialism and is hopelessly empty and lonely. This is your world and if we all learn to reach out into our little lives imagine what could happen in the world at large. Imagine a world full of people giving their lives to Jesus. That is incredible.  

This is the heart behind my new EP “My World with Light”. Listen to the songs and let Christ begin to change your heart and move you to shine the light into your world. We can’t leave it to someone else we must sense the urgency and then reach. Thanks for reading.