We have all asked this question, many times only in our own head. Some of us ask it out loud. There is a really great discussion happening on the Pathways blog right now on this topic. I was going to post something else tonight, but I will wait… this is a good discussion.
A blogging friend asked some great questions on a recent post about prayer and what it is. Take a minute to go there, if you can, and read his thoughts… I think we all ask these questions at least in our own mind. Thanks, Adam for asking out loud. When I ask myself the same questions about prayer, which I do… a few things come to mind…Do I want things from God, or do I want God? This is what I find myself asking myself. Many times I find that my answer is… I want things from God. The days that I find myself wanting God, instead of things from God… are different days. I am less whiny and more focused. Today was one of those days, by the way, after a long bout of whiny-ness. It was a good day.
I think prayer is a relationship with God. I find that if I want things from my friends constantly… eventually that friendship will end. But if I spend time sharing my life with that friend, however ugly that may become… the friendship will endure. The friendship will deepen if we can both endure, even for the pain and struggle; kind of like marriage. You see a couple who have been together forever and endured the good and the bad and are still around to love each other. There is a sweetness about their relationship… with all the bumps and bruises to boot. There is a depth to their love that only came to be through sharing life together. The good the bad and the ugly.
I think prayer is that relationship with God.
I am thinking of a time with a friend who lost her husband suddenly and she was deeply grieving. There were many times we spent together in silence. I had no clue what to say to her… She didn’t have words either. Relationships are like this. Silence is a good thing, on both sides.
Silence before God is a depth of prayer that many of us never allow ourselves to get to… We have too much to say and ask for. But think about the times when a friend is silent before you… many times that allows you a moment to share.
I think God wants to share His life with us as well…If we will only go there. 
I have been thinking about forgiveness lately and how it makes everything so much better. One story I have not yet shared from Peru is one of forgiveness.For three days, we were able to do a camp for teenagers. They were from the same community that the elementary kids were from, so we had met some of them earlier in the week. There were 40 teenagers that were able to go to the camp; which was only a fraction of the ones that were in the community. But there were only 40 spaces, so these kids were chosen for their leadership, involvement, diligence, etc.
The theme for the camp was loving your neighbor. Our discussions revolved around three areas: self-esteem, gossip and forgiveness. The first day after we had introduced the topic, we had time for small group discussion and no one said a word except for the group leaders. It was all a bit awkward and you could cut the silence with a knife. The following days eased up as the kids were more comfortable sharing, and they opened up a bit more.
The last day, Angel, (the Peruvian leader in the community who works with Food for the Hungry) took some time to wrap-up all the topics of discussion for the whole camp and he encouraged the kids to go around and give hugs and ask for forgiveness. What happened next pretty much was all God… All the kids started seeking each other out and really asking forgiveness… pretty soon, everyone was crying, talking, hugging, praying and all of us leaders were hugging and supporting, yet really just standing back and seeing God heal a community of teenagers… It was all about Him and what these kids needed right then, it had nothing to do with us except that we were blessed to have the opportunity to see God move.
In that moment, I loved that I know Spanish, because I got to hear the kid’s hearts as to what they were expressing one to another. As hard as it is to ask for forgiveness and then to give forgiveness as well… It floored me that these kids were really getting things worked out with one another. It was also very evident that it wasn’t an emotional hype… It was a genuine time of forgiving one another. It was nothing short of beautiful.
The kids all expressed, later on, the importance of that time and how it affected them. It really blew me away. God made it so clear to those of us who were observing Him move… how forgiveness makes everything so much better.
I forgive you. Three beautiful words.
My church has a blog and we discuss, all week, what we will be talking about in home groups and eventually on the following Sunday. This week we are looking at Jesus’ words in this passage: Luke 10:25-37. It has brought up some good discussion. Feel free to go there if you like. I wanted to share the following bit of thoughts that have really been on my mind lately. It just happens to be part of what we are talking about for the week as well…
…Modern day evangelism has changed in me over time. I have fully been in the place where I was “walking someone through the steps to salvation”. And to be honest with you, I felt like I was selling them something. I felt just like I do when I have a product and the goal is to have the other person purchase it. We all deal with that scenario in life because of jobs (because basically… we are all selling something, whatever it may be)… but I hate that feeling, especially if it comes to selling Jesus to people. I feel cheap, like I missed the person… just to get to the point.
I think Jesus pointed out Loving God with all our heart, soul and mind because that is where we learn what love is and who Love is. As we are steeped in that process, Love becomes more a part of us and we begin to exude what we are becoming… and people are surprisingly more drawn to us… Not because of US… but because Jesus is becoming in us… and Jesus is attractive.That’s where loving our neighbor comes in. As we are steeped in Love, we are more apt to love our neighbor. If we love our neighbor in a world where that doesn’t happen very often… people want to know why and if we are about telling the truth… that will eventually get us to sharing the source of our love. And by that time, we are not selling anything… we are giving it away because the seeker wants it.
My friend, Dean, said this once… “I never debated anyone into the Kingdom of Heaven.” I think this is so true. We have all been in the place where we have tried, or we thought that was the way to get them there… but time and again I see people jumping into the Kingdom not because of a lost debate, but because of a love desired.
Love God with all our heart, soul and mind… and love our neighbor as ourself… That’s simply what He said. We too often try to complicate things with our need for a definition; instead of just letting it be what it is.
It took me a while to get back to this…. How was the concert?? Well, musically it was amazing! I can see now why this band is so popular. They are so talented with improvisation. It’s like being at a jam session in their studio, but better because of all the lights, people, environment, etc.
One thing that drew me originally to this band is their world-music flavor. You can tell they have been all over the place and their music expresses that. The creativity in sound, story, rhythm, beat and climax of emotion is truly a rush.
People-watching is an adventure for me as well. I love people. My mom always says, “People are crazier than anyone” and I agree. We are an interesting breed to say the least . There were so many people at this concert. All varieties, all very calm and Seattle-ish. We were kind of taken aback at the calmness of everyone. When we all got up to leave in a sea of moving bodies, it was simply a constant lazy-river flow. No one pushed or rushed to our surprise… a pleasant surprise. We all just quietly flowed our way to each one’s respective car or camping site. Pretty amazing, actually for that many people.
There were so many restrictions on what could enter this venue, it kind of made us laugh. Since we were out on the lawn… I brought a small umbrella for the sun, which they said was forbidden to enter… Yet once we got in, there was a man and his wife and daughter sitting on the lawn in front of us and he proceeded to poor all his “hooch” out of clear plastic baggies into his water bottle. I guess they let that in because it was in clear plastic baggies!! Interesting.
Also, there was a bit of cloudiness in the air as a variety of smoke wafted here and there. My friend was allergic… she found out. I wonder how all that got in, when my umbrella was so forbidden?? As I said, we are a strange breed.
So, all in all… it was an adventure. A little of this, a bit of that… I’m glad I went. And… I suppose my concert trend is continuing because I just got invited to another one… I have never heard of this guy either. They tell me I will love his music, however…. I’m a nut for acoustic, folky, funky-beat, creative… story-telling music. This guy’s name is John Mayer. I’m sure YOU’ve heard of him!!
I’m catching up… give me a chance!
Adam is discussing. 
Adam 3:36 pm on September 14, 2006 Permalink |
These are good thoughts to consider. I too have changed in my view of evangelism, etc.
Have you read McLaren’s “More Ready Than You Realize”? I found it quite helpful. It is all about a new way to look at “evangelism.”
Jenn 4:24 pm on September 14, 2006 Permalink |
This is a beautiful blog. I enjoyed your views of evangelism. I have had some of the same feelings. One of my favorite sayings is “Live so that those who know you will come to know God.” I think that loving example is the best route.
Cyndee 6:25 pm on September 14, 2006 Permalink |
Hey Adam, nice to hear your thoughts! I have not read that one, I will look into it! Thanks!! Thanks, Jenn, for your encouragement as well.
It’s crazy how when you think about it… someone who comes to know the Lord because they “prayed the sinner’s prayer” or they were walked through the steps… granted, sometimes a person is right there in their journey and that is just the natural next step and they DO come to know the Lord then…. But I have seen over and over how, many times that doesn’t stick…
And it fully makes sense, because if I am led into purchasing a product that sounds good at the moment, but I have no connection with or heart desire for it… I am more likely to be excited about it for a few days and then put it on the shelf.
However, with products as an example, if we see someone who has used a certain product and is changed by it… We want it, and we will go to lengths to get it!!
Same with Jesus, I believe. Those who believe in Jesus because they see Him in someone else… are usually the ones who last in their relationship with Him…
Just a few more thoughts…
Aaron Pohle 10:57 pm on September 14, 2006 Permalink |
Good points. I’ve never really felt comfortable with “selling” Jesus to people, and it often can come across that way.
I personally have very rarely sold someone to Christ. I have on many occasions had people come to Christ after they approached me wanting to know what caused me to be different.
It’s a good think to keep in mind, not only to keep from over zealously trying to evangelize, but also to realize that we represent God in everything we do. I know that I am often amazed at the things people see me do and ask me about.
If we can more consistantly (because really, we’re not going to be perfect) reflect God’s light to the world around us, I think we will make much more of an impact than we ever could by selling people.
Still I know I struggle with that. There are times when I look back and wince to think that someone looked at me and made a judgement about God based on what they saw. Hopefully I reflect Him clearly more often than I distort Him, but I know that I do the latter far to often.
Cyndee 8:36 am on September 15, 2006 Permalink |
Hey Aaron, thanks for your comments! I think we all mess up with this, that’s why we need a Savior. We are hopelessly flawed. However… I think living our life as who He has created us to be… really helps. Loving God and Loving our neighbor… that was His advice. As we focus more on that example, instead of our system of checks and balances… I think we will more readily see His point in the matter.
I don’t think we really have a clue as to the true nature of God. I long for the kingdom restored, just to get the full picture. But for now… struggle is good as we walk in the kingdom here on earth!
Rebecca Rushmore 4:39 pm on October 28, 2006 Permalink |
As your friend Adam mentioned, Brian McLaren’s book “More Ready Than You Realize” is really a good book. It helps re-define that old view on evangelism that we even experienced at CCI with Dargatz… door-to-door knocking evangelism… yikes. I am loving learning about what evangelism really is supposed to look like in relationships with people. Its a slower, more purposeful process. Its slowing building relationships with people until you get to that point where sharing life stories and experiences is natural and naturally brings God into the conversation rather than forcefully bringing Him into the conversation. I’m reading “A New Kind of Christian” by Brian McLaren now with my small group at church. I’m only 4 chapters into it but so far it is making a lot of sense.