It was goofy, but man, it was cool
So I got the chance to preach at my home church last (Wed.) night for the midweek service.
God has been speaking to me through these conversations I'm having, about just how much hurt is floating around, and how it's killing people from the inside out. So I decided I was going to just lay it on the line with the people, and show them some of my heart in this regard.
I worked through how that connection is at the essence of God's identity; how that, because we're made in His image, connection is part of what makes us click; how that the Trinity knew that it wasn't good for us to be alone; and how that, almost from the very moment that sin entered the world, people have used their connections (read: relationships) to hurt other people. (Eve, after all, was the one who gave the fruit to Adam, and so on.)
I then began to share my heart about how many people were walking around hurt, and how they were being ignored. I kind of hit hard on the fact that older generations come from life stories full of relational underpinnings, and thus don't identify with the struggles of newer generations, whose life experiences are more closely recognized by division, dysfunction, divorce, abuse, et al.
I further explained that the average response of older generations to younger generations is one of disappointment and something bordering on disgust, because they base their view of them on where they think they should be in terms of maturity and Christian walk, not on where they actually are. I explained that it's not helping things to ask someone who's never had a father why they don't get a haircut, or to look down on a girl who's encountered abuse for coming into church with a snippy attitude.
We don't know where people are coming from, because we don't ask. We don't even attempt to identify where someone's coming from, starting a relationship from there.
So I'm saying this stuff that God's laying on my heart, and the audience is pretty evenly divided between old people and younger people. For the most part, the older people are just staring at me; meanwhile, some of the youngers are starting to cry.
I wrapped it up by identifying in the Lord's prayer the attitude that God wants us to have toward those who hurt us, and then pointing toward where James tells us to confess our faults to one another, and pray one for another, so you can be healed. Then I said, "We're going to do this."
No piano playing, just people going to other people, confessing their faults, praying for each other. It was awesome.
But when I did it, there was an entire section of old people who didn't move at all. They just sat there, looked around a little, didn't move. Inside, it kind of ticked me off. But I figured, I did what God told me to do. If they don't get it, I can't do anything more than what God wants me to do.
And then I saw a really small glimpse of one of the old guys getting it. And it was, at the very same time, hugely significant and kind of goofy.
After church, I'm standing back in the vestibule, shaking hands and whatnot, when up walks M___ and M___. M___ looks at me and says, "Thanks! We needed that!" - and proceeds to give me this huge bear hug-ish thing. He then looks at M___ and says, "C'mon! Group hug!" and jerks him into this huge hug pile.
So we're in the middle of the vestibule hug piling, when up walks D___, the prototype old guy. Always had this vibe about him where the teens/younger people were kept at a distance 'cause he didn't understand them. Why don't they keep their hair short, yada, yada, yada.
D___ walks up to the hug pile, and I watch him eye the pile with something approaching detached amusement. All of a sudden, M___ yells, "C'mon, D___, join the hug!"
Now, M___ and I both know that this invitation is purely rhetorical. There's no way D___ is actually joining the hug pile. And for about two seconds, he knew he wasn't, too.
Then, without warning, he walks up and puts his arms around the whole hug pile. And for 5.4 seconds, D___ burst out of his comfort zone so he could show that he cared.
M___'s shock started to give way to sarcasm, but I quickly cut him off, pointing out that, indeed, the reason D___ joined our hug pile was to try to show he cared.
In the big scheme of things, it wasn't a huge gesture, and I'm pretty sure it looked goofy. But for me, and for M___, and maybe for our church, it was significant.
And very cool.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. - The Bible, James 5:16
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. - The Bible, Ephesians 4:25
God has been speaking to me through these conversations I'm having, about just how much hurt is floating around, and how it's killing people from the inside out. So I decided I was going to just lay it on the line with the people, and show them some of my heart in this regard.
I worked through how that connection is at the essence of God's identity; how that, because we're made in His image, connection is part of what makes us click; how that the Trinity knew that it wasn't good for us to be alone; and how that, almost from the very moment that sin entered the world, people have used their connections (read: relationships) to hurt other people. (Eve, after all, was the one who gave the fruit to Adam, and so on.)
I then began to share my heart about how many people were walking around hurt, and how they were being ignored. I kind of hit hard on the fact that older generations come from life stories full of relational underpinnings, and thus don't identify with the struggles of newer generations, whose life experiences are more closely recognized by division, dysfunction, divorce, abuse, et al.
I further explained that the average response of older generations to younger generations is one of disappointment and something bordering on disgust, because they base their view of them on where they think they should be in terms of maturity and Christian walk, not on where they actually are. I explained that it's not helping things to ask someone who's never had a father why they don't get a haircut, or to look down on a girl who's encountered abuse for coming into church with a snippy attitude.
We don't know where people are coming from, because we don't ask. We don't even attempt to identify where someone's coming from, starting a relationship from there.
So I'm saying this stuff that God's laying on my heart, and the audience is pretty evenly divided between old people and younger people. For the most part, the older people are just staring at me; meanwhile, some of the youngers are starting to cry.
I wrapped it up by identifying in the Lord's prayer the attitude that God wants us to have toward those who hurt us, and then pointing toward where James tells us to confess our faults to one another, and pray one for another, so you can be healed. Then I said, "We're going to do this."
No piano playing, just people going to other people, confessing their faults, praying for each other. It was awesome.
But when I did it, there was an entire section of old people who didn't move at all. They just sat there, looked around a little, didn't move. Inside, it kind of ticked me off. But I figured, I did what God told me to do. If they don't get it, I can't do anything more than what God wants me to do.
And then I saw a really small glimpse of one of the old guys getting it. And it was, at the very same time, hugely significant and kind of goofy.
After church, I'm standing back in the vestibule, shaking hands and whatnot, when up walks M___ and M___. M___ looks at me and says, "Thanks! We needed that!" - and proceeds to give me this huge bear hug-ish thing. He then looks at M___ and says, "C'mon! Group hug!" and jerks him into this huge hug pile.
So we're in the middle of the vestibule hug piling, when up walks D___, the prototype old guy. Always had this vibe about him where the teens/younger people were kept at a distance 'cause he didn't understand them. Why don't they keep their hair short, yada, yada, yada.
D___ walks up to the hug pile, and I watch him eye the pile with something approaching detached amusement. All of a sudden, M___ yells, "C'mon, D___, join the hug!"
Now, M___ and I both know that this invitation is purely rhetorical. There's no way D___ is actually joining the hug pile. And for about two seconds, he knew he wasn't, too.
Then, without warning, he walks up and puts his arms around the whole hug pile. And for 5.4 seconds, D___ burst out of his comfort zone so he could show that he cared.
M___'s shock started to give way to sarcasm, but I quickly cut him off, pointing out that, indeed, the reason D___ joined our hug pile was to try to show he cared.
In the big scheme of things, it wasn't a huge gesture, and I'm pretty sure it looked goofy. But for me, and for M___, and maybe for our church, it was significant.
And very cool.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. - The Bible, James 5:16
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. - The Bible, Ephesians 4:25
posted by pastor mike at 5:20 PM
2 Comments:
You noticed a large group of people not moving too? I thought it was my eyes.
I went back to the soundbooth see if C____ was sitting alone, and at first I thought he was asleep. But, then his head moved. Regardless, he prayed alone... But M___ came back and we prayed for his dad, and I slipped in a bit about his other parent figure.
Alas, I now was alone. C___ seemed content alone, and M___ had gotten up and walked away. So I stared at a mini-sea of my aged brother and sisters... staring at the ground. Miss F____ had gotten up and went to pray with somebody, so I went and found the one person sitting there who had actually came and told me not to be sad- a guy that tried to cheer me up whenever I looked sad. And he apologized a lot and then he talked about what his life was like, and we talked about my dads... and it was awesome. And then we hugged, and I left. But it was awesome.
Bravo Mike on your desire and willingness to share with others what God is doing in your heart. We often are eager to share our hearts only when we know that other similiarly prideful people are thinking the same thing and that we can reinforce our "good" image by aligining ourselves with holy minded deeply burdened people.
I feel the issue of many hurting and uncared for people is primarily a result of our pride. We can't come right out and admit it, but the pride that prevails in the common Chritians life borders on blasphemy. We make excuses for "good" pride - we are proud of our children, they did very well, as opposed to falling onour faces before GOd and worshiping HIm for His loving kindness and generosity to our family. We take pride in our work, therefore we do things to the best of our abiliy, rather than considering our position in Christ, and making our work an offering of worship to our Saviour. All day every day many of us allow our lives to be overrun with pride. We are so easily offended, so eager to be violated. Nowhere in scripture does God make allowance for pride of any sort for any reason. Any time we take pride in or are prideful about anything, we are attempting to overlay the righteousnes imputed to us by grace through Jesus Chrsit God's Son with our own form of goodness - AS if we have anything to offer.
So anyway, how this relates to hurting people is we tned to view our own lives and our own activities as much more important than the lives of those around us. God gave me these burdens and reponsibilities therefore I must be a good steward and tend my vineyard. We grade the circumstances of life by our own proprietary curve, rather than the straight line that Christ has laid out and demonstrated. There is nothing more important to my Saviour than the hurt that is overwhelming my friends life. God does not have a scale. He wants us to be pure and whole and healed in Him. Yet we continually look to ourselves and teach others that they must do the same. It quickly becomes survival of the fittest. Every man for himself, rather than you and me and him all sinners saved by grace ecouraging one another to live lives of worship and consecration to Christ.
Another way pride affects this situation is the pharisaical environment that pride creates. We all know about keeping up appearances. As heathens, it comes naturally. As Christians, we let it define us. YOu know what I am saying. Therefore, if I am hurting, which I often am, and it is because fo sin, which it usually is, I have no where to turn. I can't talk to "you", because you will - 1. judege me, 2. talk about me, 3. exclude me, 4. humiliate me 5...6...7...8...9...
10. pray for me. And all this you must do so that others who are using the curve will know that you are good. I can't talk to God and experience any real dialogue becasue I balely even know God - all I know is this list of things that He wants me to do and that He loved me and died for me. I don't KNOW God. And "you" will fight until you die to keep it that way for fear of being found out that you tooare nothing more than a whitewashed tomb.
We are horrible. This is why Crist had to die. The very first sin was a sin of pride. I maintian that all sin is fed by pride. And Jesus gave hi slife to free us from the shackles yet we embrace the shackles with reckless abandon all in the name of Christ. Blasphemy?
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