My Son Has Taught Me

I'm sitting at my desk trying to problem solve technical questions for a sales order. In the background I can hear Judah laughing as his splashes hose water all over the porch. I allow a groan escape as I visualize the meter running sending our water bill through the roof. Becca sits in her "thinking place" as she works on another piece for her blog. Trying to refocus, the computer screen stares back as though taunting me. In a split second, my muscles grow tense and the hairs on my arms stand straight up. Becca and I exchange looks as Noah lets out another frustrated scream following by more expressions of dissatisfaction. Becca gets up to diagnose the situation. I can hear the series of "yes-no" questions. My mind wanders. Five minutes later, it seems we still have no resolution to Noah's frustration. As Becca calmly sits next to him watching and talking softly to him, his voice is less strained and his recording continues. What went wrong? Perhaps, he just needed his mom to sit next to him, reassuring him everything was alright. I sigh. All is well again.

My body, now fully relaxed, I sit here for several minutes ignoring the glare from my computer screen and allow my thoughts to process the scene from the sofa. Although, this scene is as common in our lives as the Progressive commercial on TV during prime time, a thought occurs to me: this is how we reach people. We meet them where they are, instead of expecting them to reach our expectations. This is, after all, how God reaches us. When I'm angry, I call out to God, and He meets me where I am and speaks softly to me.

"How did we get to the point of not meeting people where they are?"  I look at my computer screen. Problem still not resolved. What's another two minutes of pursuing my thought? Okay, so this causes me to think about the church. Why is it that Christians fail to follow the commandment to love? 1 Corinthians 13 13 says, "...But now faith hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." This passage speaks of the "excellence of love." It often seems the church is resistant to meet folks where they are. How did we get to that point?

As the church, as Christians we really need to examine how we go about living our lives. Christians have become too much about theory and politics, and less about the tending to the people of their community. Think if as a church we started to love people again, the Church can help cure racial tension in their neighborhoods and in this great country. Then again in the 40’s and 50’s the Church could have bridged those gaps and we may not even be in this position now. We can affect the hopelessness in the inner city, we can affect families everywhere. It takes a community of believers who finally say enough, God has put me on this earth to serve him and we are going to listen to his voice and follow his word and serve the people in love. At least for me right now, this is what my son has taught me, to meet people where they are in love and allow the Holy Spirit to work through me.

We need to examine how we live. Our concerns should tend towards people in our communities. What could develop if we focused on loving people?

Racial conflict and inner city tension...

A God fearing community who stands up and says, "God brought us here during this time, and we are going to listen and follow His word. In obedience to His voice, we will serve our community in love.

I am learning to meet people where they are and allow the Holy Spirit to work through me.

My son has taught me...