Thought of the Day-It's a Mind Bender

"If you want to be like Christ,
you have to be like Christ."
-Bob Pace

People Let Us Down

Why do we feel so disappointed when people don’t live up to the expectations we have for them?

I heard a story this weekend about this very subject. Unfortunately, I was not there to see this “fall from grace”, so I only got the facts second hand. Basically, this person acted according their sinful nature. But I had placed this person under a microscope a while ago, and was subconsciously waiting for him/her to slip up. Isn’t that terrible? It was sport for me, in a way.

Looking back, I didn’t realize how much of a hater I was being (judgmental, critical, slanderous, etc.) My rationalization was that this person, being in a leadership role, should be acting close to perfect all the time. That’s fair, right?

Did I stop to think what might be going in his/her life? No. I was busy being shocked at how they had acted. I realize now, of course, that the person is just like me- a work in progress. It reminds me of watching my students do a drawing. Sometimes you make some good progress, it’s coming along well. I might notice that something doesn’t look right and needs to be fixed. But in order to fix what’s wrong, they have to go in with a big eraser and you will probably mess up part of what is good. Is it worth it to correct what is wrong if you might disturb other parts of what’s there? Yes! *If you build on something that isn’t right, it can get better, but the drawing will have a fundamental flaw. It can only be so good. Something I tell my students is that if you have done it once, you can do it again. Correct the problem and redo what was good from the beginning. (Not the best analogy, but it makes sense to me.)

*People are the same way. That’s why we need forgiveness- the biggest eraser of what’s wrong. Jesus died for all of us- teachers, car salesmen, pastors, landscapers, people that accept Jesus, and people that don’t.

I also know that when you step out in faith to do something for God’s kingdom, it makes you a bigger target for Satan to try to take down. I experienced this in my own life a couple of weeks ago. (Brokenness anyone?) I realize too that people probably put me under a microscope. Am I living a life that, as a Christ follower, other people can look too as an example? Obviously not. What kind of example is that to the people in my small group? While I was judging someone else’s spiritual journey, I was taking 2 steps back in my own.

So, what do we do when people let us down? The same thing Jesus does for us- forgive us our sins, love us where we are at, and extend us His grace.

Finding Joy

This week at Bible study we were reading in Romans chapter 5. One of our warm up questions asked us to recall when we have experienced joy in the last 2 months. Most of us were at a loss to answer the question. Two of us mentioned feeling joy when out of town family visited, but that was about it. We were such a sorry bunch that we couldn’t recall experiencing true joy. Then we remembered that a member of our group accepted Christ and got baptized recently. There’s one to write down. What else…hmm… (I had already set the tone for the evening by going back into our previous week’s study and asking the big whammy question “What area of your life are you struggling in that you need to trust God and have faith?” That shut everyone right up. Even I didn’t really share my big thing. I said some other lesser stuff on my mind.

While I was looking inward to find my joy, I was reminded of what Pastor Rob wrote about this very topic last month. (click here). Our “homework” from our study is to look for joy in our lives, and I am going to look outside of myself for it, starting with verse 2 in Romans chapter 5-

Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

My very first blog!

Hey everybody, especially the Encounter team at Southbrook church!

I set this up with Jay’s help in 15 min. after the Saturday meeting. I think I’m going to like this a little too much… I could never be the masterful and wise blogger that Pastor Rob is, but I’ve got to try

See you all at the SALT meeting tonight at church-8pm. J