Part of The God Show idea that you’re reading here a few times a week (see link on right) is that some things are easy to miss until you’re sensitized to them – then suddenly you can’t believe you missed it. Some people refer to this as God’s leading or maybe it’s something that was there all along but you were insensitive which is still God’s leading I guess, right? A friend told a story this week about living in Florida and continually finding himself behind cars with North Carolina plates – he lives in North Carolina now.
So I’m having a bit of that sensitizing / look-another-North Carolina-plate time the last few weeks. There’s still a disconnect though. When the Lord turns up the heat to get your attention and you stay cool, does he turn it up even more?
Yesterday I'm reading Z’s blog and I see this summary of something Francis Chan said:
A little over a year ago, we baptized this guy who came out of the gangs. I remember loving his fire and passion. A while later, someone came up to me and said that this guy had stopped coming to Cornerstone and had told him, “I had the wrong vision of church. I thought that when I got baptized and joined the church, it was going to be like when I got jumped into the gang. Immediately, we became family. They had my back 24 hours a day. If I was sleeping in the street, they were sleeping there with me. We didn’t get together just once a week; it was all the time. I guess I just didn’t understand church. It’s like Satan stole God’s playbook, and people are attracted to gangs because they’re doing things biblically—except for the killing part.”
That kills me! It’s so sad that gangs are a better picture of family than the body of Christ. And it just makes me say that it’s not this guy, it’s us—we are the ones who don’t understand church.
And this, too…
“When most Christians hear about their responsibility to practice hospitality, they can think up an amazing number of creative excuses to explain why they cannot be hospitable. Yet Christians are commanded to be hospitable.” Alexander Strauch
--Our budget is too tight.
--Our home is too small.
--We don’t have a couch.
--We don’t have a dishwasher.
--The painter’s plastic hanging in the middle of our living room isn’t very attractive.
--I’m not good at this.
--It’s been a long week and I’m tired.
I’ve used all of these excuses to apply for hospitality exemptions. But Scripture has denied all my claims. The Bible is clear about who is to show hospitality: all Christians. By God’s grace, that includes me.
I guess I need at least to walk across the street and see how Marshall’s doing after his knee surgery. That might be a start.
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