Trust Files

In my job, I have responsibility for the destruction of documents for the area I cover. Today was a bit different than the usual "grab the shred and go"". We cleaned out the basement at one of my locations which was full of ancient trust files. We carried out over 180 large boxes full of mostly estate files. This afternoon, we started to run them through the shredder. I got to thinking that we were destroying the entire story of the lives of certain people. The larger files contained hundreds of documents detailing the assets and acquisitions of a lifetime of work. I got to thinking how hard they must have worked to acquire their wealth, and how hard they worked to grow and protect it. Now, I am am simply sending it into a machine that grinds it to little bits. How fleeting this small life is! It is especially so when you think about eternity. I've often thought that life is a warm up for the main event, when Heaven and Earth will be made new along with all of us. In that perspective, I want to have treasure that really lasts, the kind that is stored in Heaven. The kind I can lay at the feet of Jesus out of love for what He has done for us. Don't get me wrong, money isn't evil, but it can and unfortunately often does become an idol. Everything belongs to God, and every pursuit should begin with God and His purposes, not you and your ideas. I praise the Spirit for reminding me of this when I forget it.

I'm Sorry

Dear Non-believer,
I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we as Christians have given you the wrong impression of our Savior. I know we tend to present and misrepresent Him in ways that turn you off to the message of God's love and grace. First, we tend to politicize Jesus. He was never and will never be a political movement or force. Jesus worked from the bottom up. He frequently turned and had compassion on those that "decent" society would have nothing to do with. He was the friend to the leper, the blind beggar, the prostitute, and the vile tax collector. He didn't march into Rome and overthrow Caesar, or run for the senate. We tend to think if we just pass the right laws, or elect the right people, that that counts as evangelism. Jesus believes in being relational. He loves you one-on-one. We should be better at loving you on a personal level. The by-product of that is a moral society, a society that passes laws in an attempt to legislate morality will never succeed. Second, I'm sorry that we tend to huddle in our little groups. I'm sorry that we like to spend time with people that walk, talk, and look like us. The gospel is not a message for a certain kind of people, it is for everyone. God created eveyone! He purposefully create a diversity among humans so that when we come together we are a beautiful masterwork! We were, and never will be, an exclusive club whose income, status, or geneolgy has to be just so. Lastly, I'm sorry that we don't do a good job of living out our faith. We're loud when we shouldn't be, and quiet when we should be standing firm. We need to a better job of loving everyone. We need to be salt and light to the world. I've often wondered how we are supposed to win people for Christ without showing them what it means to be a follower. We rely too heavily on "drive-by" evangelism instead of relationship building. I missed the Bible story about Jesus buzzing by, handing out a tract and leaving. I do however, recall that He spent significant time with people healing, teaching, and loving. He immersed Himself in the emotions and trials of the people that He came into contact with, no one was beneath His time. I will, however, not apologize for the gospel. Jesus came to Earth to accomplish His great purpose. Everywhere He went, He touched the lives of people. He suffered at the hands of His people and died for them. He died for us too. He is the only one who could take our debt on and cancel it. He set aside His divinity just to stoop down to gather us up in His arms. Shouldn't we do the same as a reflection of Him?