The Table

You know what's so wonderful about potluck dinners?

Everybody brings something to the table. Nobody comes empty handed with nothing to give. People are empowered to feel a sense of actualization as a contributing member to the meal. They understand that they have something to give, even if its a bag of chips. They have something everyone else can use.

Potlucks are everywhere in today's church culture. They provide context for community and put everyone on an equal playing field. Everyone brought something, so everyone instantly becomes "one of" the community.

That sense of contribution and the subsequent feeling of confidence and pride that comes with it is invaluable to forming a healthy community. 

So why are so many systems of service in America acting in opposition to that sense of "oneness" & "togetherness"? For all of our culture of service, are the people we are coming in contact with feeling like they bring something to the table as well? Are they being allowed to feel like they have something to offer?

I look no further than my own life to relate to the poverty mindset. I grew up in a tough home situation, where much of the time we didn't have much money or resources. There were many people who dropped off groceries on our front doorstep and ran away, or who helped us one time and then never again.

But you know what made the biggest difference? The people in my life who called me friend. They didn't view me as a project, they weren't primarily concerned with "saving me". They simply cared about who I was, who I was becoming, and showing me what I had to bring to the table.

Just read what Jesus says in John 15: 9, 12-17 (emphasis mine):

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other."

Jesus has called us friends. By his great love and the work of his Holy Spirit, he has revealed to those of us who follow him who we are, how we are gifted, and has empowered us to play a part, to contribute, to his work on this Earth.

This is a glimpse of what Jesus has been saying to me. There are action steps ahead that will come with time.

I want you to consider what this means for you. When you give or serve, are you letting the Holy Spirit guide you and are you focusing on the "who"? Are you seeking to form community and looking for ways to allow people to use their gifts? Are you taking on a spirit of humility and a desire to learn?

How can we stop measuring our service by how it affects us? How can we be people who empower others through the Holy Spirit to take next steps in who they are becoming?

"Nobody is so poor that they have nothing to bring to the table." - Bob Lupton

We all bring something, and we should never be so selfish as to disallow others to bring what they have. We must care for the needs of those we serve above our own. 

Very simply, as Jesus has loved us, so we must love others.

10,000 Reasons

How many times has your heart been broken?

How many times have you trusted someone only to be let down?

How many times have you have experienced something so painful that you doubted your heart would ever recover from it?

Over my lifetime I would estimate I have felt like this 1,000 + times. At least that's how I can perceive it sometimes.

It's no secret that life can be unpredictable & that our hearts can be wounded over and over....and over again. In this lifetime every single one of us will experience great pain and great joy. It is a mixed bag of emotions,circumstances, and our reactions. How we make meaning of this lifetime is everything.

I know a lot of people that as "life happens" allow their hearts to become hardened, and feel themselves getting truly lonely on the inside. Maybe they never show it on the outside, maybe they do, but the one thing they have in common is a feeling of being shrouded in darkness and being on autopilot. To them, God is no more than a bully who wants to judge them, or maybe He doesn't exist at all.

Then there are those ridiculous, insane people who as "life happens" actually get stronger. Not in a way that's pretending to be tough, but I mean they actually become better people for their experiences. They are growing and thriving, learning from each day. Sure they fall, but they get back up. To them, God has compassion on their hearts and a plan/purpose for their lives.

There are 2 foundational truths we need to understand about our existence:

1. We were born into a spiritual battle for our hearts between a God that loves us unconditionally and an enemy seeking to destroy any shred of that love he possibly can.

2. There is a God in heaven who created us to be in perfect relationship with him and who has created a great story of reconciliation, sacrifice, and redemption in which we are being transformed into his likeness and having our original purpose restored. Not only that, we have a part to play in this story.

In my 24 years on this Earth, I have experienced death, homelessness, a public shooting, poverty, depression, abandonment, heartache, failure, car accidents, being in prison, hunger, etc.

The Apostle Paul tells us his experiences with being shipwrecked, tortured, imprisoned, beaten, etc.

In the context of those experiences he writes this in Phillipians 4:11-13.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

The "him" he is talking about is Jesus. In spite of all he has lived through, Paul stills trusts with all his heart in Jesus.

For all the 1,000 + times I have felt separated from the love of God, there are 10,000 more when God has been victorious.

He is my rock, the strength of my heart. He is the foundation upon which I rest. He is my refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. He is my fortress, He is a mighty God. He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.  He is my everything.

Friends, your life has a purpose. God cares deeply about you and your heart. There is more to life than being a victim of a crazy emotional roller coaster. More than being tossed around by circumstances.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess in Christ our Lord, for he is faithful to heal us. His mercies are new every morning. He is the author and the perfector of our faith. Nothing in all of creation can truly separate us from Him.

Thrive

There are a few lyrics from the Switchfoot song "Thrive" off of their album "Vice Verses" that I absolutely love:

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive
A warm body don't mean I'm alive
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive"

And isn't that just how life feels sometimes? 

Void of a sense of intimacy and real joy, we go from thing to thing, task to task, meeting to meeting almost on autopilot. We are technically alive, but nothing about the way we feel inside or interact with people would give any indication that we are.

Much of the time, we get so used to it that we barely even notice our heart has become a little more hard and our will a little more weak. We remember how we used to feel, who we used to be, and the present just feels so....impossible. overwhelming. frustrating.

Was it meant to be like this? Were we meant to just "get through" each day?

I have to believe there is more. More than the anxiety, the fear, the need for control. There is no way we were given the gift of life just to use it to run the rat race for success and to get there at all costs.

There is no way we were created to only focus on ourselves and our needs, having no awareness of the people around us or the overwhelming love of the Father.

Believe me, I get it. We have to work while going to school while having a significant other while having friends while being involved in church while....etc.

Maybe there are some things in our life that we are investing time in that shouldn't be there, but for most of us it's all good and necessary stuff taking up our time.

                    "Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you" - 1 peter 5:7

                                         If you are reading this and feel anxious. 
               Take a deep breath. Take 5 minutes. Turn off the computer, phone, etc. 
                             Bask in the love and mercy of our Heavenly Father. 
                   Feel His love for you. Breathe it in. Meditate on the above verse, 
                                        and understand 2 things about God:

                                                           He is strong.

                                          He loves you with a deep, deep love.

                                        Be STILL and KNOW that He is God.
            
                                                              Repeat.